BX  9178  .T33  C6  1883 
Taylor,  William  M.  1829- 

1895. 
Contrary  winds 

I  r-  \  \  1  c_ 


NOW  READY— 4th  EDITION. 


LIMITATIONS    OF   LIFE 

AND   OTHER  SERMONS 

Bt    WM.    M.    TAYLOR,    D.D..    LL.D. 

with  a  find  portrait  on  steel  bt  ritchie. 

Crown  8vo  Vol.,  400  Pages.     Extra  Cloth,  $1.73. 


Copies  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  price. 


CONTRARY    WINDS 


AND 


OTHER   SERMOiN'S 


BY 

WM.  M.  TAYLOR,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

PASTOR  or   THE    BROADWAY   TABERNACLE,    NEW    YORK   CITT 


NEW  YORK 

A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    &   SON 

714.  Bkoadway 

1883 


Copyright,  1883,  et 
A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  &  SON 


PIIES3  Of    J.    J.  LITTLE   1  CO., 
N09.    10   TO   aO    ASTOB    PLACE.   NEW    YOSK. 


PEIXTCS 
,B£C.  NOV  1883 

THEOLOGICAL 


TOIT  ^\ 

lOO'J  > 


^Min:^?-^ 


PREFACE. 


The  favorable  reception  given  to  tlie  former  volume 
entitled  "  The  Limitations  of  Life  and  other  Ser- 
mons" has  moved  me,  at  the  urgent  and  repeated 
solicitation  of  my  friends  the  Publishers,  to  issue  a 
companion  to  it  in  the  shape  of  the  present  work. 
The  discourses  here  presented  to  the  reader  were 
delivered  in  the  ordinary  course  of  my  ministry,  and 
have  been  chosen  simply  because  of  their  bearing  on 
topics  of  great  present  importance,  and  because  of 
the  testimonies  to  their  helpfulness  which  I  have 
received  from  many  who  heard  them.  They  are 
printed  now  as  they  were  preached  at  first,  for  the 
good  that  they  may  do,  and  my  prayer  is  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  may  accompany  them  with  his  quicken- 
ing and  upbuilding  influences. 

Wm.  M.  Taylor. 

Broadway  Tabernacle, 
New  York,  October,  1883. 


CONTENTS, 


PAGE 

Contrary  Winds 7 

Chaff  or  Wheat  ? 21 

Christ  before  Pilate — Pilate  before  Christ 37 

Captivities  and  How  to  Improve  them 51 

Personal  Independence  the  Result  of  Divine  Redemption 65 

The  Untrodden  Path 80  ** 

i-^he  Past  Irrevocable 93 

The  Vision  of  Elijah 107     - 

The  Pleasures  of  Sin 121    "• 

Affliction  as  Related  to  Life 136 

Opportunities  and  their  Limit 150 

The  Harvest  of  Retribution  and  Reward 169 

Debtors 186 

The  Revelation  at  the  Bush 200 

True  Greatness 215 

The  Seal  of  the  Spirit 229 

Drifting 245 

The  Inductive  Study  of  the  Scriptures 260 

/^An  Open  Door  for  Little  Strength 279 

The  Sorrowful  "  If  " 293 

The  Hidden  Support  of  Life 309 

The  Rectifying  Influence  of  the  Sanctuary 325 

The  Responsibilities  of  Life 341  — 

These  Things  Done  and  Others  Not  Left  Undone 356 


CONTRAEY  WINDS. 

Matthew  siv.  24. — The  wind  was  contrary. 

To  get  at  all  the  lessons  wliicli  are  suggested  by 
tliese  words  to  those  who  care  to  go  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  narratives  of  Scripture  we  must  have 
a  clear  conception  of  the  whole  circumstances  con- 
nected with  the  spending  of  this  night  of  toil,  by  the 
disciples,  on  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret.  They  had  just 
returned  from  their  first  preaching  tour  though  Gal- 
ilee ;  and  as,  in  the  exuberance  of  their  joy,  they 
were  telling  Jesus  "  all  things  both  what  they  had 
done  and  what  they  had  taught,"  the  followers  of 
John  the  Baptist  came  with  the  sad  tidings  that  Herod 
had  caused  their  master  to  be  put  to  death.  This 
news  at  once  revived  in  the  Lord  the  remembrance  of 
John's  nobleness,  and  suggested  to  him  the  nearness 
of  his  own  crucifixion.  He  saw  that,  with  him  too, 
matters  were  hastening  to  a  crisis  ;  and,  therefore,  that 
he  might  prepare  himself  for  that  which  was  before 
him,  and  fortify  his  disciples  against  the  difficulties 
and  disappointments  that  were  in  store  for  them,  he 
took  them  with  him  for  a  season  of  rest  and  retirement 
to  the  eastern  side  of  the  lake. 

But  the  inconsiderate  selfishness  of  the  people  gave 
him  no  opportunity  for  relaxation,  for  as  soon  as  they 
saw  him  setting  out  in  the  boat  they  started  to  walk 
round  the  head  of  the  loch  in  great  numbers,  and,  imme- 
diately on  his  landing,  they  crowded  about  him  as  they 
had  done  at  Capernaum.    Nor  did  he  thrust  them  from 


8  CONTEARY  WINDS. 

him;  but,  after  having  taught  them  till  far  into  the  after- 
noon, he  was  so  moved  with  compassion  for  them  that 
he  furnished  a  feast  for  them  by  miracle  from  the  five 
loaves  and  two  fishes,  which  were  all  the  provisions 
available  at  the  moment.  The  efi'ect  of  this  suj)er- 
natural  work  was  great.  It  roused  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  people  to  the  highest  pitch,  so  that  they  exclaimed 
"This  is  of  a  truth  that  prophet  that  should  come  into 
the  world  "  :  and  they  wished  "  to  take  him  by  force 
and  make  him  a  king."  His  own  disciples,  too,  seem 
to  have  been  unwontedly  stirred.  With  their  as  yet 
carnal  ideas  regarding  his  kingdom,  they  were  all  too 
ready  to  second  and  supjDort  the  proposal  of  the  mul- 
titude ;  and  so,  for  their  own  sakes,  as  well  as  to  prevent 
the  crowd  from  rushing  into  a  reckless  enterprise,  he 
sent  them  away  to  cross  the  lake  by  themselves,  and 
after  dismissing  the  people  to  their  homes,  he  went  up 
alone  into  the  mountain  to  soothe  and  refresh  his 
spirit  by  fellowship  with  his  Father. 

While  he  was  thus  engaged,  however,  his  disciples 
were  called  to  contend  with  a  furious  storm,  of  a  kind 
not  uncommon  on  the  sea  of  Galilee.  That  lake  lies 
low,  being,  in  fact,  six  hundred  feet  beneath  the  level 
of  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  water-courses  on  its 
banks  have  cut  out  deep  ravines  which  act  like  funnels 
to  draw  down  the  winds  from  the  mountains,  so  that 
the  storms  are  often  both  sudden  and  severe.  On  the 
present  occasion  the  wind  came  down  with  such  fury 
that  even  strong  rowers,  like  the  fishermen  apostles, 
could  make  little  way  against  it,  and  after  "  toiling  " 
for  nine  hours  they  had  made  no  more  than  three 
miles.  Thus  it  was  with  them  until  the  fourth  watch, 
when  the  Lord  came  to  their  relief,  walking  on  the 
waves ;  and  after  he  entered  the  boat,  the  wind 
ceased,  and  they  speedily  reached  "  the  other  shore." 


CONTBARY  WINDS.  9 

Now,  with  these  facts  in  mind,  let  us  see  what  help 
we  can  derive  for  our  daily  lives  from  this  toilsome 
rowing  of  the  disciples  against  a  contrary  wind. 

I.  Very  evidently,  the  first  thing  here  suggested  is 
that  the  way  of  duty  is  not  always  easy.  In  saying 
that  I  do  not  allude  to  the  inner  difficulties  which  we 
have  frequently  to  overcome  before  we  enter  upon  the 
path  of  obedience,  but  rather  to  those  hindrances 
which  come  upon  us  from  without,  while  we  are  r 
honestly  trying  to  go  forward  in  the  course  which,  be-/ 
lieving  it  to  be  commanded  us  by  God,  we  have  begun. 
These  disciples  were  not  very  anxious  to  get  into  the 
boat  at  first.  They  had  to  be  "  constrained  "  by  the 
personal  effort  of  their  Master  himself.  Had  he  not 
exerted  on  them  such  an  amount  of  pressure  as  to 
make  them  feel  that  they  would  be  going  against  his 
will  if  they  should  stay,  they  would  much  rather 
have  remained  with  him.  But  after  they  had  entered 
the  boat,  and  had  begun  their  rowing,  there  is  no- 
reason  to  believe  that  they  were  slack  at  their  work. 
The  smallness  of  the  progress  which  they  made  was 
owing,  not  to  anything  about  them,  but  only  to  the 
sudden  uprising  of  a  storm  of  contrary  wind. 

Here,  then,  were  men  doing  what  had  been  clearly 
commanded  by  the  Lord  ;  doing  it  too  because  they 
felt  that  they  could  not  refuse  without  wounding  his 
heart ;  doing  it,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe,  with  all 
their  might ;  and  yet  hindered  by  influences  external 
to  themselves,  and  altogether  beyond  their  control. 
Now,  when  we  put  it  so,  we  see  in  a  moment  that  the 
situation  of  these  disciples  is  not  uncommon.  I 
venture  to  say  that  there  is  no  one  here  of  any 
lengthened  experience  who  has  not  had  many  days  in 
his  life  when  "  the  wind  was  contrary  "  unto  liim.  We 
1* 


10  CONTEAKY   WINDS. 

have  had  a  duty  laid  upon  us.  It  has  not  been  of  our 
own  choosing.  If  we  had  been  left  to  our  own  im- 
pulses we  would  much  rather  have  done  something 
else,  but  in  a  marvelous  manner  we  have  felt  ourselves 
"shut  up"  to  its  performance.  We  have  not  been 
able  to  get  past  it.  We  have  entered  upon  it  because 
we  felt  we  must  do  so.  Our  loyalty  to  the  Lord  has 
"  constrained  "  us  to  undertake  it ;  and  yet,  almost  as 
soon  as  we  begin,  "the  wind  becomes  contrary,"  and 
we  have  to  contend  with  the  greatest  amount  of  diffi- 
culties, so  that  we  are  prone  to  cry  "  Why  is  this  ? 
Have  we  mistaken  altogether  the  indications  of  God's 
Spirit  as  to  our  duty  in  the  case  ?  and  if  we  have  not, 
how  comes  it  that  he  has  hindered  us  in  this 
fashion  ? "  How  often  one  begins  the  day  with  the 
clear  conviction  that  some  important  thing  must  be 
done  by  him  before  the  evening  !  He  enters  upon  it 
early  in  the  morning,  but  he  has  not  proceeded  far 
when  he  is  interru23ted ;  and  he  has  scarcely  dismissed 
one  intruder  before  another  is  announced.  Thus  it 
continues  all  the  day,  and  at  its  close  he  sighs,  and 
says,  "  Ah !  me !  the  wind  was  contrary."  And  the 
next  day  may  be  a  repetition  of  the  same,  so  that  he 
is  tempted  to  make  a  choice  between  two  conflicting 
obligations,  and  to  neglect  one  for  the  sake  of  meeting 
another. 

And  what  is  sometimes  true  thus  of  a  single  day  in 
our  history,  may  be  so,  also,  of  a  whole  section  of  life. 
Take  the  case,  for  example,  of  a  youth  in  his  choice  of 
a  profession.  He  is  ingenuous,  conscientious,  prayer- 
ful. He  does  not  wish  to  take  any  course  of  wliich 
his  Saviour  would  not  approve,  and  at  last  he  feels 
himself  shut  in,  suppose,  to  the  ministry  of  the  gos- 
pel. It  is  not  that  he  is  attracted  toward  it  by  any 
of  its  outward  advantages  ;  but  that  he  is  impelled 


CONTEAKY  WINDS.  11 

into  it  by  ttat  inner  consecration  that  will  not  let  Mm 
stay  out  of  it.  He  hears  the  Master's  call,  not  in  any 
mystic  voice,  but  in  that  irrepressible  "  I  cannot  but " 
which  springs  up  within  him.  He  seems  to  himself 
to  be  drawn  on  by  an  irresistible  attraction.  He 
could  not  be  happy,  he  could  not  say  to  his  con- 
science that  he  had  obeyed  God,  if  he  did  not  yield. 
And  yet,  after  he  begins  to  prepare  himself  for  the 
work  to  which  he  thus  devotes  himself,  he  is  beset 
with  difficulties.  Perhaps  the  parents  who  have  here- 
tofore cheerfully  supported  him  are  beggared  by  some 
commercial  crisis,  and  can  help  him  no  more  ;  or  the 
death  of  a  father  may  have  thrown  the  weight  of  a 
household  on  his  shoulders ;  or  some  accident — as 
men  call  it — on  the  railway  or  in  the  steamboat  may 
lay  him  for  months,  or  perhaps  longer,  on  a  bed  of 
weakness.  And  so  he  too,  while  following  what  he 
believed  to  be  the  v/ill  of  God,  is  made  to  feel,  to  his 
own  dismay  and  depression,  that  "  the  wind  is  con- 
trary." 

"What  a  thrilling  illustration  of  the  same  thing 
we  have  in  the  case  of  the  Apostle  Paul  and  his  visit 
to  Pome  !  He  had  long  desired  to  go  to  that  city,  not 
from  motives  of  curiosity,  or  from  any  wish  to  secure 
worldly  fortune,  but  simply  that  he  might  help  the 
Christians  there  by  giving  them  some  spiritual  gifts, 
and  might  at  the  very  center  of  the  empire  touch  for 
Christ  some  springs  of  influence  which  would  vibrate 
to  its  outermost  circumference.  Nor  is  this  all.  In 
that  desire  he  had  been  encouraged  by  his  Lord  ;  and 
so,  feeling  it  to  be  clearly  his  duty,  he  sets  out  for 
Jerusalem,  intending  to  go  thence  to  the  imperial  city 
by  the  directest  route.  But  all  the  way  thither  he  is 
met  by  entreaties  not  to  go,  and  even  by  prophecies 
of  coming  evil.     On  his  arrival  there  he  is  impdsoned 


12  CONTRAKY  WINDS. 

in  the  castle  of  Antonia.  And  though,  on  the  second 
night  after  his  apprehension,  the  Lord  stood  by  him 
and  assured  him  that  he  woukl  still  get  to  Rome,  yet 
he  had  to  go  through  two  years  of  imprisonment  and 
through  peril  of  shipwreck  and  long  delay  at  Malta 
to  his  destination.  That  was  a  dreary  duration  of 
contrary  wind ;  and  I  often  wonder  what  Paul  thought 
as  he  looked  back  on  the  clear  assurance  which  he  re- 
ceived from  his  Master  that  he  should  go  to  Rome, 
and  then  glanced  at  the  chain  by  which  he  was 
bound,  and  the  untoward  influences  by  which  he  was 
surrounded.  Did  no  misgiving  ever  arise  in  his  heart 
as  to  whether  or  not  he  was  right  in  seeking  to  go  to 
Rome  ?  Or,  if  he  was  unwavering  in  that  conviction, 
was  he  ever  tempted  to  think  that  God  had  no  control 
over  the  occurrences  of  human  life  or  the  elements  of 
nature?  Or,  feeling  himself  unable  to  unravel  these 
mysteries,  did  he  take  refuge  in  his  own  words  of  be- 
lieving assurance,  "  We  know  that  all  things  work 
together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  who  are  the 
called  according  to  his  purpose "  ?  I  cannot  tell. 
But  I  can  clearly  see  what  a  trial  came  to  him  tliu:s 
from  hindrances  in  the  very  providence  of  God  which 
kept  him  from  doing  that  which  God  himself  had  laid 
upon  him. 

And  many  of  us  who  have  sought  the  "further- 
ance of  the  gospel "  among  our  fellow  men,  in  obe- 
dience to  the  injunction  of  the  Lord,  have  seemed 
to  be  providentially  retarded  in  the  same  way.  We 
begin,  say,  in  a  spirit  of  simple  devotion  to  Christ, 
and  because  he  has  so  brought  the  matter  to  our  door 
that  we  cannot  pass  it  on  to  another,  some  effort  for 
the  evangelization  of  the  careless  in  our  neighbor- 
hood. We  are  sure  we  are  seeking  a  good  end,  but 
"  the  wind  is  contrary."     We  are  met  with  freezing 


CONTKAKY  WINDS.  13 

indifference  among  those  from  wliom  we  expected  co- 
operation. One  difficulty  is  suggested  after  another, 
and  so  soon  as  we  surmount  one  obstacle  another 
makes  its  appearance.  We  never  seem  to  get  into 
plain  sailing;  always  there  are  breakers  ahead,  or 
something  to  be  guarded  against.  If  it  all  depended 
upon  us,  we  should  go  on  with  energy  ;  but  alas  !  our 
energy  evaporates  in  a  large  degree  in  holding  those 
constant  negotiations  and  taking  those  continual  pre- 
cautions which  are  needed  in  order  to  keep  everybody 
sweet  and  to  prevent  friction.  Let  any  one  set  out  in 
earnest  to  do  anything  positive  or  aggressive  for 
Christ,  and  all  experience  declares  that  before  he  has 
gone  far  he  will  have  to  face  a  contrary  wind.  These 
are  the  conflicts  which  must  have  given  birth  to  the 
following  lines  of  Faber,  and  the  mere  repetition  of 
his  words  may  be  itself  a  comfort  to  us  : 

"  Oh!  it  is  hard  to  work  for  God, 
To  rise  and  take  His  part, 
Upon  this  battle-field  of  earth. 
And  not  sometimes  lose  heart. 

"  He  hides  himself  so  wondrously, 
As  though  there  were  no  God  : 
He  is  least  seen  when  all  the  powers 
Of  ill  are  most  abroad. 

"  Or,  he  deserts  us  at  the  hour 
The  fight  is  all  but  lost, 
And  seems  to  leave  us  to  ourselves 
Just  when  we  need  Him  most. 

"  Yet,  there  is  less  to  try  our  faith 
In  our  mysterious  creed. 
Than  in  the  godless  look  of  earth, 
In  these  our  hours  of  need." 

II.  Now,  what  shall  we  say  to  sustain  ourselves  amid 
an  experience  like  that  ?     This,  at  least,  we  may  take 


14  CONTRARY  WINDS. 

to  ourselves  for  comfort,  namely,  tliat  we  are  not  re- 
sponsible for  the  wind.  That  is  a  matter  outside  of 
us  and  beyond  our  control,  and  for  all  such  things  we 
are  not  to  be  blamed.  Now,  that  takes  the  sting  out 
of  the  trial.  It  does  not  diminish  the  difficulty ;  it  does 
not  make  the  prosecution  of  our  work  less  arduous ; 
the  "  toiling  in  rowing "  will  be  demanded  all  the 
same,  but  there  will  be  more  heart,  and  better,  for  its 
continuance.  Nothing  breaks  the  spirit  like  conscious 
guilt ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  nothing  braces  it  like 
conscious  integrity.  If  a  difficulty  rises  before  me  iu 
God's  providence,  apart  from  any  agency  or  culpa- 
bility of  my  own,  then  I  am  in  better  mood  to  meet 
and  overcome  it  than  I  should  be  if  I  recognized  iu  it 
some  result  of  my  own  folly.  A  feeling  of  this  sort, 
I  think,  must  have  throbbed  in  Paul's  heart  when 
he  wrote  to  the  Eomans,  "  If  it  be  possible,  as  much 
as  lietli  in  yoit,  live  peaceably  with  all  men."  He  had 
known  what  it  was  to  have  men  fired  with  antagonism 
to  him,  but  he  had  known  also  the  riches  of  the  con- 
solation that  consists  in  the  consciousness  that  he  had 
done  nothing  to  deserve  it ;  and  so  he  would  have  his 
readers  see  to  it  that  when  they  were  hindered  it 
should  be  by  a  "  wind  "  which  they  did  not  raise, 
and  not  by  a  "  breeze  "  which  they  had  themselves 
created.  And  the  same  thought  must  have  been  in 
Peter's  mind  when  he  bids  his  readers  be  careful  that 
when  they  suffered  it  should  be  for  "  well  doing"  and 
not  for  "  evil  doing."  The  obstacles  which  we  make 
for  ourselves  are  those  which  give  us  the  sorest  pain ; 
but  though  that  for  which  I  am  not  responsible  may 
be  a  great  hindrance  to  me,  it  can  never  be  a 
real  personal  burden.  One  may  grumble  about  the 
weather, — though  even  that  would  be  a  sin, — but  in- 
convenient though  disagreeable  weather  is,  we  do  not 


CONTEAEY  WINDS.  15 

number  that  among  our  sorest  aflflictions.  The  con- 
trary wind  is  in  God's  providence,  and  is  to  be  made 
the  best  of ;  nay,  so  soon  as  we  recognize  that  it  is  in 
God's  providence,  we  will  make  the  best  of  it. 

But  another  thought,  suggested  by  the  history  from 
which  my  text  is  taken,  comes  to  our  support  here, 
this,  namely,  that  the  attention  required  for  bearing 
up  against  the  contrary  wind  may  take  us,  for  the  tin^ 
being,  out  of  the  way  of  some  subtle  temptation. 
Think  of  the  circumstances  out  of  which  these  disci- 
ples had  just  come.  The  multitude  desired  there  and 
then  to  take  measures  for  the  proclamation  of  Christ 
as  a  King ;  and,  with  their  low  and  earthly  notions  of 
the  sort  of  kingdom  which  Messiah  was  to  establish, 
the  near  prospect  of  his  entrance  in  this  way  upon  it 
had  a  strange  fascination  for  the  disciples.  They  were 
eager  for  just  such  a  denouement  as  the  great  mass  of 
the  people  wanted.  How  eager  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that,  on  the  following  day,  after  their  Master  had 
refused  to  be  a  mere  temporal  ruler,  and  had  thereby 
so  estranged  many  from  him  that  they  "went  back 
and  walked  no  more  with  him,"  he  was  moved  to 
say  to  the  twelve,  as  if  he  saw  some  signs  of  wavering 
even  in  them,  "Will  ye  also  go  away  ?"  So  we  gather 
that  he  sent  them  away  across  the  lake  that  night,  and 
left  them  by  themselves  to  contend  with  adverse  winds, 
just  to  keep  them  out  of  harm's  way,  and  to  give  them 
something  else  meanwhile  to  think  of  than  the  glitter- 
ing allurements  of  worldly  greatness.  And  how  often 
have  we  seen  that  a  contrary  wind  has  done  the  same 
thing  for  ourselves  ?  "We  have  not  been  conscious 
of  it  at  the  moment ;  but  after  the  toil  has  been  long 
past,  and  we  have  been  able,  from  the  height  of  some 
later  vantage  ground,  to  look  back  upon  the  whole  ex- 
perience, and  put  everything  in  it  into  its  proper  per- 


16  CONTRAEY  WINDS. 

spective,  we  can  see  tliat  it  came  just  in  time  to  prevent 
us  from  being  moved  by  some  dear  deceitful  dream 
tliat  was  at  the  moment  magnetizing  us  by  its  influ- 
ence. We  lament  the  interruptions  that  have  kept  us 
from  finishing  the  work  which  we  had  laid  out  for  a 
day,  and  feel  almost  aggravated  at  the  delay ;  yet  some- 
how, through  the  experience  of  these  very  interrup- 
tions, we  have  been  kept  from  doing  that  work  Id  a 
way  that  would  have  brought  dishonor  on  ourselves, 
or  given  the  enemies  of  the  Lord  occasion  to  blas- 
pheme. The  mode  which  at  first  had  a  strong  charm 
for  us  did  in  the  interval  lose  its  attraction,  and  wiser 
thoughts  j)revailed  in  the  end ;  or  the  work  grew  in 
our  idea  by  the  delay,  so  that  it  became  something 
grander  than,  without  that,  we  could  have  thought  of 
making  it. 

So,  again,  when  we  have  been  held  back  by  sick- 
ness, or  other  providential  restraint  from  accom- 
plishing that  on  which,  as  the  servants  of  God,  we 
were  resolutely  bent,  we  have  lived  to  find  out  that,  if 
that  hindrance  had  not  come  just  then,  we  should  have 
been  in  danger  of  preferring  personal  ambition  to  the 
ajDprobation  of  the  Lord.  And,  in  general,  all  such 
adverse  providences  have  operated  in  keeping  us 
nearer  the  mercy-seat,  and  in  leading  us  to  depend 
more  implicitly,  or,  as  the  hymn  has  put  it,  to  "  lean  " 
more  "  hardly,"  on  the  supjDort  of  the  Lord.  Let  us 
not  forget,  therefore,  that  the  buffeting  with  an  adverse 
wind  has  in  it  a  preventive  influence,  wdiicli  may  help  to 
keep  us  from  something  worse.  Better  far  a  strong 
head-wind  than  a  fog ;  for  in  the  fog  an  iceberg  may 
be  veiled,  and  collision  with  that  would  be  destruc- 
tion. But,  here,  the  fog  may  be,  as  in  the  case  of 
these  disciples  it  was,  in  the  vague  and  misty  notions 
which  we  may  have  of  Jesus  and  his  kingdom ;  and 


CONTRAEY   WINDS.  17 

anytliing  that  takes  our  thoughts  away  from  the 
secret  dangers  lurking  in  all  such  speculations  is  a 
blessing,  no  matter  how  rough  the  experience  may  be. 
But  still  another  thought  comes  to  our  support 
here,  for  there  may  be  much  in  contending  with  a  con- 
trary wind,  like  that  which  we  have  been  describing, 
to  prepare  us  for  higher  service  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 
Look  once  more  at  these  disciples.  Up  till  this  time 
they  had  been  in  visible  companionship  with  the 
Lord,  from  the  hour  when  they  had  been  called  to 
follow  him,  with  but  the  exception  of  that  preaching 
circuit  from  which  they  had  just  recently  returned. 
But  he  was  not  to  be  with  them  thus  all  through  their 
lives.  The  day  was  coming  when  he  would  be  cruci- 
fied ;  and  though,  after  his  crucifixion  and  burial, 
there  was  to  be  a  resurrection  from  the  grave,  yet  that 
was  to  be  followed  by  his  ascension  into  glory,  after 
which  he  would  no  more  be  with  them  in  the  body. 
It  was  needful,  therefore,  that,  before  that  time  ar- 
rived, they  should  have  some  experience  of  what  it 
was  to  be  absent  from  him ;  and  in  this  night  upon 
the  deep  they  had  what  I  may  call  a  rehearsal  in 
symbol  of  some  of  the  difficulties  with  which  they 
would  have  to  contend  after  he  was  taken  up  into 
heaven.  He  withdrew  to  the  mountain  to  give  them 
a  foretaste  of  what  should  come  when  he  went  up  to 
heiaven ;  and  I  have  a  firm  conviction  that  much  of 
that  persistence  of  the  apostles  in  the  face  of  perse- 
cution which  so  strongly  impresses  us  as  we  read  the 
early  chapters  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  had  its 
root  in  the  remembrance  of  what  they  had  learned  in 
this  night's  contending  with  adverse  winds  on  the 
Galilean  lake.  This  was  one  of  their  first  experi- 
ments in  walking  alone,  and  it  helped  to  steady  them 
afterwards. 


18  CONTRAEY  WINDS. 

Now,  it  is  quite  similar  with  many  believers  yet. 
Take  the  case  of  a  young  man  studying  for  the  min- 
istry, and  compelled,  in  the  course  of  his  curriculum, 
to  do  battle  with  difficulties ;  and  those  who  have  had 
such  a  fight  to  go  through  will  tell  you  that  no  college 
or  seminary  could  ever  have  given  them  so  valuable  a 
prej)aration  for  their  life  work  as  that  conflict  secured 
to  them.  Those  five  years  of  waiting  between  the 
obtaining  of  his  license  to  preach  and  the  securing  of 
a  parish,  which  seemed  at  the  time  even  to  Thomas 
Guthrie  to  indicate  that  he  had  mistaken  his  profes- 
sion, were,  as  he  himself  afterwards  declared,  among 
the  most  useful  to  him  of  all  his  early  life  ;  for  during 
a  part  of  these  he  "  walked  the  hospitals  "  of  Paris, 
and  so  fitted  himself  for  work  in  the  dens  of  the  Edin- 
burgh Cowgate  ;  and  during  the  rest,  he  conducted  a 
bank  in  his  native  town,  and  so  familiarized  himself 
with  business  that  he  could  speak  with  wisdom  and 
intelligence  to  men  of  every  occupation,  and  of  all 
ranks.  And  the  same  is  seen  in  many  other  men. 
The  very  necessity  of  rowing  against  the  wind  devel- 
ops new  strength,  and  brings  latent  resources  into 
play.  It  is  questionable  if  John  Kitto  would  ever 
have  been  an  author  had  it  not  been  for  "  the  con- 
trary wind "  of  deafness  which  blew  upon  him  from 
the  time  that  he  was  twelve  years  old ;  and  so  much 
have  difficulties  to  do  with  the  development  of  char- 
acter, and  the  attainment  of  a  sphere  of  exalted 
usefulness  in  the  world,  that  we  may  say  that  the 
greatest  of  all  misfortunes  that  can  befall  a  youth  is 
to  have  nothing  but  good  fortune.  It  may  help  to 
nerve  us  against  despondency,  therefore,  to  know  that 
our  present  conflicts  are  the  prophecies,  if  we  but 
fight  them  bravely  through,  of  future  eminence. 

But  once  more  here,  as  we  bend  to  our  oars  while 


CONTRARY  WINDS.  19 

the  wind  is  contrary,  we  may  take  to  ourselves  tlie 
comfort  that  the  Lord  Jesus  is  closely  watching  us. 
The  parallel  passage  in  Mark  tells  us  that  "  he  saw 
them  toiling  in  rowing."  They  did  not  know  it,  for 
it  was  dark.  But  it  is  written  here  for  our  support 
in  similar  circumstances.  "He  saw  them  toiling  in  ^''*" 
rowing,  for  the  wind  was  contrary  unto  them."  If 
they  had  known  that  it  would  liave  put  new  heart 
into  them ;  for  they  would  have  felt  sure  that  no  harm 
would  be  suffered  to  come  to  them  beneath  his  eye, 
and  they  would  have  been  convinced  that  whenever 
he  saw  it  to  be  necessary  he  would  come  to  their 
relief.  But  precisely  that,  this  narrative  as  a  whole 
is  designed  to  teach  us.  It  tells  us  that  though  Jesus 
is  unseen,  he  is  still  looking  down  with  interest  upon 
us  ;  that  he  is  making  intercession  for  us  before  the 
heavenly  mercy  seat ;  and  that  in  some  way,  at  the 
right  time,  he  will  come  to  succor  us.  So  we  may 
leave  all  care  about  the  issue,  and  attend,  meanwhile, 
to  the  rowing.  That  is  our  present  duty,  let  us  there- 
fore hold  to  it  steadily,  bravely,  hopefully.  Nor  let  us 
be  disappointed  if  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night  should 
come  before  help  appear.  Belief  will  come  ;  so  again  I 
say,  let  us  work  hopefully.  There  is  all  the  difference  in 
the  world  between  working  with  hope  and  without  it ; 
or,  using  the  language  of  Scripture,  between  a  living 
hope  and  tlie  hope  that  is  dying  or  dead.  The  sailor 
on  the  raft  sinks  into  inactivity  so  long  as  there  is  no 
vessel  in  sight ;  but  let  a  ship  appear  on  the  far  hori- 
zon and  immediately  he  is  alert,  and  seeks  by  every 
means  in  his  power  to  attract  the  attention  of  those 
on  board,  if  haply  he  may  be  saved.  In  the  same 
way,  if  we  lose  the  hope  of  Christ's  help  we  shall 
give  up  rowing  against  the  wind.  But  as  hope  revives 
within  us  we  shall   put  forth  more  strength.      Let 


^0. 


20  COXTRARY  WINDS. 

those  in  a  beleaguered  garrison  be  signaled  that  relief 
is  near,  and  though  they  be  on  the  verge  of  starvation, 
they  will  hold  out  until  it  comes  ;  and  so  let  a  Chris- 
tian keep  hope,  and  he  will  keep  persistence,  for  here, 
too,  comes  in  that  pregnant  saying  of  the  Apostle, 
"  we  are  saved  by  hope."  "What  a  contrary  wind  that 
was  which  blew  on  Milton  during  the  long  years  of 
his  blindness !  Yet  he  held  on,  and  held  out.  Here 
are  his  words : 

"  Yet  I  argue  not 
Against  Heaven's  band  or  will,  nor  bate  a  jot 
Of  lieart  or  bope,  but  ?till  bear  up  and  steer 
Eight  onward." 

And  his  glorious  epic  was  the  magnificent  outcome. 
Thus  let  us  hold  on,  no  matter  what  we  are  required  to 
contend  against,  and  let  us  rest  assured  that  at  length 
Christ  Avill  come  to  us  with  such  strengthening  influen- 
ces that  we  shall  rise  to  something  nobler  than  with- 
out our  struggle  we  could  ever  have  attained.  Let  us, 
then,  toil  on !  It  is  but  a  little  while  at  the  longest.  No 
contrary  wind  can  last  forever.  By  and  by  Christ  will 
come  to  us,  and  then  there  will  be  peace.  Yes,  and 
after  a  time  we  shall  reach  "  the  other  shore  " ;  and 
when  we  touch  that  we  shall  be  done  with  difficulties. 
So,  as  the  father  of  the  well-known  Andrew  Marvell 
said,  just  before  he  entered  the  boat  in  which,  as  he 
was  crossing  the  Humber,  he  went  down  and  was 
drowned,  "  Ho  !  for  Heaven !  "  What  though  the 
waves  be  rough  ?  Ho !  for  heaven  !  What  though  the 
wind  be  contrary  ?  Ho !  for  Heaven !  What  though 
the  labor  be  exhausting  ?  Ho !  for  Heaven ! 


And  when  tbe  sbore  is  won  at  last, 
^Yho  will  count  tbe  billows  past  ?  . 


Nov.  28,  1880. 


CHAFF  OR  WHEAT? 

Jeremiah  xxiii.  28. — The  prophet  that  liath  adream,  let  him  tell  a 
dream,  and  he  that  hath  my  word,  let  him  speak  my  word  faithfully. 
What  is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat  ?  saith  the  Lord. 

The  propliet  Jeremiah  lived  in  evil  days.  He  was, 
in  fact,  almost  the  only  witness-bearer  for  Jehovah  in 
his  generation,  for  the  people  had  sunk  into  uttermost 
depravity,  and  were  fast  ripening  for  judgment.  At 
the  time  when  he  uttered  the  words  of  my  text,  Jehoi- 
achin,  the  grandson  of  Josiah,  was  upon  the  throne  of 
Judah,  which  he  filled  for  only  four  months  ;  and 
Nebuchadnezzar  was  preparing  the  expedition  whicli, 
within  a  few  weeks,  was  to  take  Jerusalem  captive, 
and  to  carry  to  Babylon,  as  prisoners  of  war,  many 
thousands  of  its  citizens.  In  vain  the  prophet  raised 
his  warning  voice.  To  no  purp  ose  did  he  entreat  the 
jDeople  to  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  the  monarch  to 
make  peace  with  the  Babylonian  emperor.  It  was  his 
lot,  Cassandra-like,  to  foretell  things  which  no  one 
would  believe  ;  and  to  have  his  efforts  thwarted  by 
men  of  whom  better  things  might  have  been  expected. 
For  his  most  pronounced  antagonists  were  among  those 
who  had  been  educated  as  prophets,  and  who  called 
themselves  the  servants  of  the  Lord.  Ever  as  he  gave 
his  message  they  stood  forth  to  contradict  him,  and 
claimed  that  they  and  not  he  truly  represented  the 
mind  of  Jehovah.  They  despised  him,  and  said,  "  The 
Lord  hath  said  ye  shall  have  peace  ;  and  they  said 
unto  every  one  that  walked  after  the   imagination  of 


22  CHAIT  OR  WHEAT? 

liis  own  heart,  No  evil  shall  come  upon  you."  Bui 
he  affirmed  concerning  them  that  thej  "spake  a 
vision  of  their  own  heart  and  not  out  of  the  mouth  of 
the  Lord  " ;  and,  as  the  test  between  them,  he  made 
his  ajDpeal  to  the  results.  They  were  continually  ex- 
claiming "  I  have  dreamed ;  I  have  dreamed !"  "  Well 
then,"  he  cries  to  the  people,  "let  them  tell  their 
dreams,  and  let  me  proclaim  God's  word ;  then  out  of 
the  issue  ye  shall  know  which  of  us  is  his  rightful 
messenger.  'The  prophet  that  hath  a  dream,  let  him 
tell  a  dream,  and  he  that  hath  my  word,  let  him  sj)eak 
my  word  faithfully ;  what  is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat  ? 
saith  the  Lord.'  Put  it  to  the  test  of  experiment, 
and  try  it  by  the  results  produced  in  each  case,  then 
ye  shall  know  which  is  the  true  prophet  and  which 
the  false." 

But  primarily  applicable  as  these  words  are  to  the 
utterances  of  Jeremiah,  we  may  broaden  them  out  so 
as  to  include  under  them  the  whole  word  of  God  ;  and 
we  may  challenge  all  human  dreams  which  men 
have  set  up  in  antagonism  to  it  with  the  same 
confidence ;  and  say  "  What  is  the  chaff  to  the 
wheat?  "  As  the  Saviour  himself  has  expressed  it,  "  by 
their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  The  Baconian 
principle  is  that  everything  is  to  be  received  which 
stands  on  the  basis  of  exj)eriment ;  and,  judged  by  their 
results,  we  never  need  fear  for  the  Sacred  Scriptures, 
for  in  their  own  proper  department  they  are  "  wheat," 
and  everything  which  men  have  put  in  their  place 
and  set  up  against  them  is  "  chaff."  This  is  the  testi- 
mony of  human  experience  as  a  whole,  and  in  a  day 
when  multitudes  are  seeking  to  put  the  Bible  once 
again  uj^on  its  trial,  it  may  be  well  to  bring  this  out 
prominently  before  your  attention. 

My  theme,  then,  this  morning  is  the  superiority  of  the 


CHAFF   OR  WHEAT?  23 

divine  word  to  the  merely  liuman  dreams  by  wliicli  men 
liave  sought  to  disj^lace  it.  But,  before  I  enter  upon  it, 
let  me  carefully  define  what  I  mean  by  "human 
dreams."  I  do  not  include  under  such  an  appellation 
the  discoveries  of  science  which  have  made  this  cen- 
tury illustrious.  So  far  from  being  "  dreams,"  these  are 
well-accredited  facts ;  and  they  are  a  part  of  God's 
revelation  to  men  as  really  as  are  the  writings  of 
prophets  and  apostles.  They  have  not  come  to  us  in 
the  same  way,  indeed,  and  no  supernatural  influence 
was  required  either  to  perceive  them  or  to  communicate 
them.  But  nature,  as  some  call  it,  is  in  my  view  only 
the  first  volume  of  God's  book,  and  everything  which 
is  really  found  in  it  contributes  to  a  better  under- 
standing of  him.  Still,  just  as  the  Bible  was  not 
designed  to  teach  men  science,  so  science  is  not  com- 
petent to  instruct  men  in  those  subjects  which  are 
distinctively  treated  of  in  the  Bible,  and  when  it 
enters  into  that  department,  science  is  a  mere  dreamer, 
even  as  many  who  are  well  acquainted  with  the  Script- 
ures are  no  better  than  dreamers  when  they  speak  of 
scientific  topics.  I  refer  now,  therefore,  not  to  the 
discoveries  of  science,  but  rather  to  those  views  regard- 
ing God,  and  the  soul,  and  the  hereafter  which  multi- 
tudes in  our  times  are  seeking  to  put  in  antagonism  to 
the  word  of  God, — and  I  say  that  these  "human 
dreams  "  when  tested  by  experience  are  found  to  be 
chaff,  while  the  word  of  God,  when  similarly  tried, 
is  discovered  to  be  wheat.  Now  let  us  see  whether 
I  can  make  good  my  assertion.  I  shall  arrange  my 
statements  under  one  or  two  particulars. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  then,  I  remark  that  the  human 
dream  is  empty  ;  but  the  divine  word  is  substantial. 
Chaff  is  a  mere  husk,  but  wheat  is  all  grain.     So  the 


24  CHAFF   OR  WHEAT? 

antagonists  of  the  Bible  deal  in  vague  sj^e dilations,  or 
emj^ty  negations  ;  wliereas  the  Scriptures  are  positive 
and  satisfying.  The  agnostic  says  that  we  cannot  know 
anything  save  that  of  which  we  can  take  cognizance 
with  our  bodily  senses ;  and  so  he  relegates  the  world 
of  spirit,  and  even  the  existence  of  God,  into  the 
category  of  the  unknown  and  the  unknowable.  The 
atheist  deals  in  absolute  negation,  and  affirms  that 
there  is  nothing  but  the  visible,  and  the  here, — 
no  God,  no  soul,  no  future  life.  And  the  sceptic 
alleges  that  there  is  utter  uncertainty  as  to  whether 
there  is  a  God,  a  soul,  or  a  hereafter.  Now,  this 
being  the  case,  it  is  no  calumny  to  say  of  these 
systems  that  they  are  empty  things.  They  have 
nothing  in  them  on  which  a  man  can  lay  hold.  They 
are  as  unsubstantial  as  a  dream ;  as  shadowy  as  a 
vision  of  the  niglit.  But  the  Scriptures,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  positii'e.  Their  very  first  utterance — 
"In  the  beginning  God" — brings  God  into  the 
front ;  and  there  is  that  within  us  which  is  respon- 
sive to  their  assertion  of  his  existence.  His  I  Am 
awakes  an  echo  in  ourselves  which  is  not  only  the 
assertion  of  our  own  spiritual  being,  but  the  recogni- 
tion of  his.  Moreover  the  Scriptures  speak  to  our 
consciences  in  such  a  way  as  not  only  to  reveal  our 
sinfulness,  but  also  to  unfold  the  way  of  forgiveness ; 
and,  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Clirist  from  the 
dead,  they  bring  the  future  life  to  light — so  that  what 
was  before  a  perhaps,  or  a  mere  possibility,  becomes 
an  absolute  certainty. 

But  you  may  say  all  that  is  mere  assertion.  Well, 
let  it  be  put  to  the  proof.  Try  the  human  dream  in 
the  hour  of  bereavement.  What  has  it  to  say  to 
the  mourner  weeping  over  the  casket  that  holds  his 
dead  beloved  ?     I  challenge  infidelity  to  utter  then  a 


CHAPF  OK  WHEAT?  25 

word  wliicli  lias  in  it  a  single  particle  of  comfort  for 
the  stricken  one.  If  lie  choose  to  repress  the  in- 
tuitions of  his  own  nature,  and  shut  his  eyes  to  the 
evidences  of  intelligent  design  which  exist  in  the  exter- 
nal world,  one  may  affirm  that  there  is  no  God. 
But  what  comfort  is  there  in  that  at  such  a  time  ?  If 
he  please  to  turn  away  from  the  proofs  which  so 
plentifully  exist  in  support  of  the  credibility  of  the 
Gospel  narratives,  another  may  allege  that  the  whole 
story  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  myth,  and  that  his  resur- 
rection from  the  dead  is  a  delusion :  but  what  conso- 
lation is  there  in  that  under  such  an  experience  ?  If  he 
desires  to  say  something  kindly,  a  third  may  speak  of 
the  "  common  law,"  and  sadly  refer  to  the  universality 
of  death  :  but  what  is  there  in  that  to  dry  a  tear  ?  and 
who  can  wonder  at  the  indignation  with  which  the 
poet  treated  it,  when,  in  words  which  seem  to  suggest 
that  he  had  this  very  text  in  mind,  he  cries : 

"  One  writes,  that  '  other  friends  remain.' 

That  'loss  is  common  to  the  race/ 

And  common  is  the  common  place 
And  vacant  chaflf,  well  meant  for  grain. — 
That  loss  is  common  would  not  make 

My  own  less  bitter — rather  more: 

Too  common :  never  morning  wore 
To  evening  but  some  heart  did  break." 

But  now,  suppose  the  friends  have  been  walking  to- 
gether in  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  one  has  been  taken 
and  the  other  left.  Draw  near  to  the  survivor,  and  say, 
"  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled  ;  ye  believe  in  God, 
believe  also  in  me.  In  my  Father's  house  are  many 
mansions  ;  if  it  were  not  so  I  would  have  told  you.  I 
go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.  We  know  that  if  our 
earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we 
have  a  building  of  God,  an  house  not  made  with 
2 


26  CHAPF   OR  WHEAT? 

Lands,  eternal  in  tlie  lieavens."  And  what  is  the  re- 
sult ?  The  tears  flow  on,  but  the  bitterness  is  taken 
out  of  the  sorrow.  The  memory  is  transmuted  into  a 
hoj^e ;  for  the  parting  is  seen  to  be  but  for  a  season, 
while  the  reunion  is  to  be  forever.  The  loved  one  is 
missed;  but  even  in  the  sadness  caused  by  the  ab- 
sence there  is  a  bright  anticipation  of  the  happy  be- 
yond. Now,  as  I  contrast  these  two  ways  of  dealing 
with  sorrow,  am  I  not  warranted  to  say,  "  What  is  the 
chaff  to  the  wheat  ?  "  "No  doubt,"  you  reply,  "  but  that 
does  not  prove  that  the  Scripture  revelation  is  true." 
And  to  that  I  answer,  that  there  is  more  of  proof  in  it 
than  you  think  for,  since  its  adaptation  to  meet  the 
need  of  the  mourner  is  itself  an  indorsement  of  its 
worth.  The  specific  in  medicine  has  won  its  recogni- 
tion when  it  is  seen  to  be  unfailing.  In  like  manner 
the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  comfort  the  mourner  es- 
tablishes its  claim  to  be  received  as  the  divine  specific 
for  his  grief,  and  he  will  not  give  it  up  unless  he  gets 
something  better  in  its  place ;  least  of  all  will  he  part 
with  it  for  that  which  is  unsubstantial  as  an  airy 
nothing. 

II.  But,  in  the  second  place,  I  remark  that  the  human 
dream  is  destitute  of  nourishment  for  man's  spiritual 
nature,  while  the  divine  word  is  strengthening,  and 
ministers  to  its  growth.  Chaff  does  not  feed ;  but 
wheat  gives  nutriment.  So  mere  speculation  has  in 
it  no  educating  and  ennobling  influence.  It  occupies 
the  mind  without  strengthening  the  character.  The 
man  who  indulges  in  it  makes  no  progress  ;  but,  in- 
stead of  flowing  onward  with  the  current,  he  is  caught 
in  some  whirling  eddy,  round  which  he  is  continually 
revolving.  The  sceptics  of  to-day  are  no  farther  on 
than  those  of  the  early  centuries;   and  agnosticism 


CHAPF  OR  WHEAT?  27 

was  as  fully  developed  in  ancient  Athens  as  it  is  in 
any  of  our  modern  cities.  But  the  Christian  believer 
grows.  His  character  is  ever  gaining  new  develop- 
ment. He  never  reaches  his  ideal,  but  still  "  follows 
after."  The  human  being  lives  by  faith.  He  must 
believe  something.  He  cannot  move  a  single  step 
otherwise  ;  and  when  he  loses  all  faith  he  comes  to  a 
standstill.  That  is  a  general  law,  and  so  we  need  not 
be  surprised  to  find  it  hold  in  reference  to  spiritual 
things.  Scepticism  puts  an  arrest  on  progress.  It 
stimulates  the  critical  faculty  into  excess  ;  and,  instead 
of  stirring  a  man  up  to  the  formation  and  development 
of  his  own  character,  it  makes  him  a  mere  anatomist 
of  the  characters  of  others.  I  think,  if  you  examine, 
you  will  find  that  the  great  majority  of  mere  critics 
have  become  so  through  their  lack  or  loss  of  personal 
religious  faith.  What  a  contrast,  in  this  regard,  there  is 
between  the  lives  of  the  two  Frenchmen,  Vinet  and 
St.  Beuve !  They  were  companions  in  youth,  and,  in- 
deed, friends  through  life.  But  St.  Beuve  lost  his 
religious  faith,  and  became  a  literary  critic,  one  of 
the  very  best  of  critics,  indeed,  yet  cnly  a  critic,  de- 
lighting the  readers  of  his  "  Causeries  du  Lundi " 
with  his  expositions  of  the  systems  of  other  men  and 
his  estimates  of  their  worth  ;  but  Vinet,  who  retained 
his  faith  to  the  last,  became  a  producer  himself,  added 
something  great  to  the  thought  and  work  of  his  time, 
and  earned  the  right  to  be  called  the  "  Chalmers  of 
Switzerland." 

Now  that  is  a  typical  instance.  But  if  you  wish  to 
find  my  statement  confirmed  by  an  American  experi- 
ment, take  the  case  of  those  who  went  into  the  Brook 
Farm  enterprise,  and  you  will  find  that  the  growth 
of  them  all  had  been  checked  by  speculation  ending 
to  a  greater  or  lesser  extent  in  unbelief.  They  all  had 


28  CHAIT   OR  WHEAT? 

tlie  critical  faculty  sharpened ;  but  they  were  all,  even 
then,  at  their  full  growth,  and  they  never  got  farther. 
They  had  little  or  nothing  of  the  constructive  about 
them  ;  and  the  most  they  have  done,  either  in  litera- 
ture or  in  society,  has  been  in  the  way  of  criticism. 
Their  work  has  been  serviceable  to  those  who  are 
already  believers,  and  who  knew  how  to  take  advan- 
tage of  it  for  their  constructive  purjjoses  ;  but  they  did 
little  in  that  way  themselves.  To  the  same  class  be- 
longs that  eminent  English  philosopher  who  has  lately 
been  visiting  our  shores,  and  who,  after  having  been 
entertained  by  the  evolutionists  of  our  country,  set  sail 
yesterday  for  his  home.*  You  read,  I  doubt  not,  with 
interest,  his  exceedingly  thoughtful  remarks  about 
Americans  in  the  interview  with  which  he  honored  a 
privileged  reporter.  Among  other  wholesome  truths 
he  said,  regarding  fitness  for  free  institutions,  "  It  is 
essentially  a  question  of  character,  and  only  in  a  sec- 
ondary degree  a  question  of  knowledge."  And  again, 
in  regard  to  indifference  among  the  people  to 
public  abuses,  he  reiterated  the  opinion,  "  Not  lack  of 
information,  but  lack  of  certain  moral  sentiments,  is 
the  root  of  the  evil."  This  emphasis  of  character  is 
most  admirable;  and  in  that,  as  you  well  know 
from  my  frequent  references  to  it,  I  thoroughly  agree 
with  him.  His  diagnosis  is  excellent ;  but  what  does 
he  propose  as  the  remedy?  How  are  we  to  get  this 
character  and  these  moral  sentiments  ?  Alas !  in 
answer  to  such  questions  he  is  very  largely  silent. 
He  has  a  small  sneer  at  "  the  little  which  religious 
teachers  have  been  doing  these  two  thousand  years," 
and  a  vague  inference  from  biological  truths  to  the  effect 
"  that  the  eventual  mixture  of  the  allied  varieties  of 

*  The  reference  is  to  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer. 


CHAPF   OR  WHEAT?  29 

tlie  Aryan  race  will  produce  liere  a  more  powerful 
type  of  man  than  lias  liitlierto  existed"  ;  and  that  is 
all !  So  moral  sentiments  are  to  be  the  growth  of  a 
mixture  of  races,  and  the  only  hope  for  us  of  the 
present  generation  is  that  we  are  in  the  way  of  evolv- 
ing for  the  far-off  future  a  very  high  ultimate  form  of 
national  life.  Said  I  not  truly  that  in  all  these  men 
the  critical  was  the  predominant  quality,  and  that 
they  had  little  or  nothing  of  the  constructive  in  them  ? 
Evolution  !  as  well  may  a  man  endeavor  to  lift  him- 
self by  his  own  garments  as  seek  to  elevate  him- 
self through  such  means.  Nothing  can  be  evolved 
that  has  not  first  been  involved ;  and  though  it  may 
"  split  the  ears  of  the  groundlings  "  to  talk  of  the 
little  that  religious  teachers  have  done,  there  is  noth- 
ing that  can  make  character  or  elevate  the  race  like 
the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  What  made 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  gave  its  character  to  New 
England?  Was  it  not  the  faith  of  the  gospel  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  ?  It  is  true,  indeed,  as  our  own  poet  has 
said,  that 

"God  had  sifted  three  kingdoms  to  find  the  wheat  for  his  planting, 
Then  had  sifted  the  wheat,  as  the  living  seed  of  a  nation." 

But  they  were  "  the  believers  "  who  remained.  Their 
faith  made  them  the  "  fittest "  to  survive.  And  to  men- 
tion no  more,  what  made  Scotland,  and  put  its  people 
in  the  van  of  Europe?  Was  it  not  the  same  faith 
in  the  same  gospel  ?  The  truth  is,  that  all  that  has 
been  secured  in  character  during  the  last  eighteen 
centuries,  in  the  way  of  deepening,  broadening  and 
elevating  it,  has  been  secured  in  connection  with  the 
efforts  of  religious  teachers.  The  progress  of  the 
past  has  been  owing  more  to  the  word  of  God  than 
to  all  else  combined ;  and  so,  even  in  the  face  of  Mr. 


30  CHAPF   OR  WHEAT? 

Spencer's   allegations,  I   dare  to  ask,   "Wliat  is  tlie 
chaff  to  tlie  wlieat  ?  " 

III.  But  this  leads  me  to  remark,  in  the  third  place, 
that  the  "  human  dream  "  has  no  aggressiveness  in  it 
to  arrest  or  overcome  the  evils  that  are  in  the  world, 
but  the  divine  word  is  regenerating  and  reform- 
ing. "  Is  not  my  word  like  as  a  fire  ?  saith  the  Lord, 
and  like  a  hammer  that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces?  " 
A  venerable  old  man,  who  has  been  during  the 
greater  part  of  a  long  life  before  the  public,  and 
who  has  been  highly  respected  by  all  his  asso- 
ciates, is  now  lying  seriously  ill.*  He  has  been 
known  mostly  as  a  politician  ;  but  within  the  last 
six  years  he  has  given  very  serious  attention  to  re- 
ligious matters,  and  in  a  long  conversation  which 
I  had  with  him  some  months  ago  he  delighted  me 
with  the  insight  which  he  gave  me  into  his  spiritual 
experience.  His  eye  was  dimmed,  for  he  was  nearly 
blind ;  but  his  mind  was  clear  and  bright  as  ever,  and 
I  will  not  soon  forget  the  radiance  which  illumined 
his  countenance  when  I  thanked  him  for  a  letter  on 
this  very  subject  which  he  sent  two  years  ago  to  the 
Neio  York  Herald,  and  which  is  now  printed  as  a  tract 
by  the  American  Tract  Society.  I  speak  of  Mr. 
Thurlow  Weed  ;  and  I  am  glad  here  to  direct  atten- 
tion to  his  words,  since  no  one  can  accuse  him  of  pro- 
fessional prejudice,  and  every  one  must  accept  him  as 
a  competent  and  unbiased  witness.  Let  me  quote 
the  following  sentences,  illustrative  of  the  regenerat- 
ing influence  of  the  truth  :  "  Our  city  furnishes  many 
examples  of  the  beneficence  of  religion.  Forty  years 
ago  a  locality  too  well  known  as  the  '  Five  Points,' 

*Mr.  Weed  died  a  few  days  after  this  sermon  was  delivered. 


CHATF  OR  WHEAT?  31 

witli  a  population  of  several  thousands,  was  the  home 
of  the  vilest  of  the  vile,  and  the  resort  of  others 
equally  debased.  Men,  women,  and  children,  of  all 
nationalities  and  colors,  herded  together,  differing 
only  in  the  degrees  of  crime  and  the  depths  of  prof- 
ligacy habitually  practised.  Their  days  were  passed 
in  either  idleness  or  depredations.  Their  nights  were 
spent  in  dance-house  debaucheries.  All  healthy  or 
wholesome  influences  were  excluded.  Children  grew 
up  to  become  either  street  beggars  or  inmates  of  the 
almshouse,  and  their  parents  filled  penitentiaries  and 
prisons.  These  orgies  continued  year  after  year,  de- 
fiant and  aggressive,  until  that  pandemonium  was  in- 
vaded by  Christian  men  and  women  whose  patience 
would  not  tire,  whose  courage  was  indomitable,  and 
whose  devotion  has  been  rewarded  by  a  moral  and 
religious  reformation  so  complete  that  no  part  of  our 
city  is  now  more  quiet  and  orderly  than  the  once 
dreaded  '  Five  Points.'  Thousands  of  children,  then 
growing  up  either  vagabonds  or  culprits,  are  now  at- 
tending schools,  in  which  they  are  stimulated  by  pre- 
cept and  example  to  live  industrious  and  virtuous 
lives.  Instead,  therefore,  of  going  forth  idle,  igno- 
rant, and  vicious  children  to  prey  upon  society,  the 
destitute  and  orphan  children  of  the  '  Five  Points,' 
prepared  for  usefulness  by  moral  and  religious  train- 
ing, find  happy  homes  in  our  rapidly-developing 
"Western  States  and  Territories. 

"  Again,*  eight  years  ago.  Water  Street  and  its  sur- 
roundings northward  from  Peck  slip  had  a  notoriety 
almost  as  unenviable  as  that  of  the  'Five  Points.' 
That  region  was  rife  with  drunkenness,  burglaries, 
pugilism,  and   their  kindred  vices.     Jerry  McAuley 

*  Now  ten. 


32  CHAFF   OE  WHEAT? 

was  conspicuous  in  all  that  was  wicked  and  demoral- 
izing. He  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  terror  to  the 
j)recinct,  a  reputation  which,  by  his  own  confession, 
was  deserved.  But  this  disturber  of  the  public  peace 
was  converted,  and  then  he  resolved  to  devote  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life  to  the  service  of  his  Master,  and, 
with  a  faithful,  affectionate  wife  as  a  helper,  he  has 
given  himself  to  labor  for  the  salvation  of  others.  For 
a  long  time  the  hisses  and  howlings  of  his  former  asso- 
ciates seriously  disturbed  his  meetings,  but  courage, 
perseverance  and  patience  finally  prevailed,  and  his 
work  now  progresses  without  interruption.  The  gen- 
eral character  of  the  neighborhood  has  been  improved ; 
its  social  and  moral  tone  and  atmosphere  have  been 
purified.  Sailor  boarding-houses  have  been  reformed. 
Sailors  now  carry  their  Bibles  with  them  to  sea. 
Moody  and  Sankey  hymns  are  sung  in  forecastles. 
Hundreds  of  half-naked  and  hungry  wives  and  chil- 
dren, by  the  conversion  of  drunken  husbands  and 
fathers,  now  rejoice  in  comfortable  and  happy  homes. 
The  Mission  church  is  crowded  every  w^eek  day  and 
evening,  and  three  times  on  Sunday,  with  intelligent 
Christian  men  and  women,  who,  rescued  from  garrets 
and  gutters,  are  now  reputable  citizens,  enjoying  the 
fruits  of  their  industry,  and  relating  with  grateful 
hearts  the  miseries  of  their  past,  the  joys  of  their 
present,  and  the  hopes  of  their  future.  By  all  who 
*  went  to  scoff,  but  remained  to  pray,'  Jerry  McAuley 
and  his  exemplary  wife  are  regarded  with  affection, 
and  will  be  remembered  with  gratitude."* 

*  Mr.  McAuley  has  since  removccl  to  the  Cremorne  Mission  in  West 
Thirty-second  Street,  where  he  carries  on  a  work  equally  remarkable 
with  that  above  described  ;  while  Mr.  O'Brien  has  succeeded  him  in 
Water  Street,  with,  if  possible,  still  more  marked  success  than  his 
predecessor  had. 


CHAPF   OR  WHEAT?  33 

These  are  some  of  the  recent  fruits  of  the  gospel 
in  reformatory  and  regenerating  work,  of  which  we 
are  ourselves  eye-witnesses.  But  now,  where  shall 
we  look  for  anything  like  similar  results  from  those 
who  are  the  votaries  of  the  human  "  dreams  "  of  ag- 
nosticism, scepticism  or  infidelity?  "What  has  any 
one  of  these  done  to  improve  the  characters  of  indi- 
vidual men,  or  elevate  society,  or  bless  the  world? 
And  had  not  Mr.  Weed  a  right  to  conclude  his  letter 
with  this  challenge  :  "  And  now  I  invite  the  advocate 
of  infidelity,  or  any  of  his  followers,  to  inform  the 
public  how  and  to  what  extent  they  have  profited  by 
his  missionary  labors  in  this  city ;  what  salutary  re- 
forms he  has  inaugurated,  or  even  suggested  ;  or  in 
what  manner  and  to  what  extent  he  has  contributed 
to  the  general  welfare  or  happiness  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  "  ? 

There  is  an  annual  record  of  Christian  work  in  this 
city,  issued  by  Mr.  Lewis  Jackson,  of '  the  City  Mis- 
sion, which  may  illustrate  the  same  thing.  It  is  an 
extensive  document,  and  represents  many  agencies, 
and  much  expenditure  of  effort  and  of  means.  It 
shows,  too,  that  large  results  have  been  secured  ;  but 
where  is  the  report  of  similar  doings  among  the 
"  dreamers  of  dreams  "  ?  What  hospitals  have  they 
reared  ?  what  missions  have  they  inaugurated  ?  what 
sinners  have  they  reclaimed?  You  read,  as  I  did, 
with  deepest  interest,  those  recent  articles  in  the  Neio 
York  Times  about  our  city  churches.  Many  things  in 
them  were  glaringly  inaccurate,  but  some  were  calcu^- 
lated  to  awaken  very  serious  thoughts  in  our  minds ; 
yet  one  was  to  me  matter  of  devoutest  gratitude,  and 
that  was  the  fact  that  by  these  churches  two  mil- 
lions and  a  half  of  dollars  are  given  annually  for 
enterprises  of  benevolence,  which  have  for  their  ob- 
3* 


34  CHAFF  OE  WHEAT? 

ject  not  merely  the  physical,  but  also,  and  especially, 
the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  men.  All  these 
agencies  are  in  full  operation,  and  all  of  them  are 
attended,  through  the  blessing  of  God's  Spirit,  with  a 
larger  or  smaller  measure  of  success.  What  is  agnos- 
ticism, or  scepticism,  or  infidelity  attempting  in  the 
same  direction  ?  and  what  success  would  any  of  them 
meet,  if  it  should  make  the  effort  ?  I  ask  these  ques- 
tions without  any  fear  for  the  answer,  and  here 
again  I  dare  renew  my  challenge  :  "  "What  is  the  chaff 
to  the  wheat?  saith  the. Lord."  Let  the  advocates  of 
infidelity  either  do  more  than  we  have  accomplished, 
or  let  them  forever  hold  their  peace. 

IV.  But  I  have  time  only  to  name  my  fourth  re- 
mark, which  is,  that  the  human  dream  is  short-lived,  but 
the  divine  word  is  enduring.  Chaff  13  easily  blown 
away,  but  the  wheat  remains.  And  so  the  "  little 
systems  "  of  human  speculation  "  have  their  day  and 
cease  to  be  "  ;  but  "  the  word  of  the  Lord  endureth  for- 
ever." Each  new  antagonist,  as  he  has  arisen,  has 
boasted  that  he  would  destroy  the  influence  of  the  gos- 
pel ;  but,  somehow,  he  j^asses  away,  and  it  continues. 
Like  some  impregnable  fortress,  in  the  hollows  around 
which  you  may  pick  up  specimens  of  the  various 
missiles  which  from  age  to  age  have  been  hurled 
against  it,  whilst  its  walls  remain  unbroken,  the 
word  of  God  has  withstood  for  centuries  the  attacks 
of  many  successive  armies  of  antagonists.  The  assail- 
ants have  gone— the  Book  abides ;  and  as  of  old  it 
was  written,  so  we  may  write  again — "  They  are  dead 
who  sought  the  young  child's  life."  The  arguments 
of  the  first  antagonists  of  the  gospel  are  now  read 
only  in  the  pages  of  the  apologists  who  replied  to 
them.     And  in  more  recent  times,  how  many  ad  versa- 


CHAFF   OR  WHEAT?  35 

ries  liave  advanced  to  assail  it,  with  liauglity  boasting 
that  it  would  speedily  be  defeated,  but  witli  the 
same  result?  Voltaire  said  that  it  took  twelve  men 
to  establish  the  gospel,  but  he  would  show  that  one 
man  could  overthrow  it.  Yet  the  gospel  is  here 
studied  by  millions,  and  how  few  now  read  Voltaire  ? 
A  certain  German  rationalist  alleged  that  the  gospel 
was  not  worth  twenty-five  years'  purchase ;  but  half  a 
century  has  gone  since  he  wrote,  and  the  gospel  is 
more  vigorous  than  ever,  while  he  is  forgotten.  Again 
and  again,  in  the  estimation  of  its  adversaries,  it  ought 
to  have  been  demolished  ;  but  it  will  not  die,  for  there  is 
deep  truth  in  Beza's  motto  for  the  French  Protestant 
Church,  which  surmounts  the  device  of  an  anvil  sur- 
rounded by  blacksmiths,  at  whose  feet  are  many 
broken  hammers,  and  which  I  once  heard  Frederick 
Monod  translate  thus : 

"Hammer  away,  ye  hostile  bands  : 
Your  hammers  break,  God's  anvil  stands." 

Now,  what  does  your  boasted  doctrine  of  the  survival 
of  the  fittest  say  to  this  ?  Come !  do  not  flinch,  but 
carry  it  through.  Is  not  the  inference  from  your  own 
principle  irresistible — that  by  its  survival  the  gospel 
has  proved  its  fittestness  ? — and  may  I  not,  therefore, 
repeat  my  challenge  :  "  "What  is  the  chaff  to  the 
wheat?  " 

But  what  is  the  inference  from  all  this  ?  Can  we 
express  it  better  than  in  the  words  of  the  text :  "  He 
that  hath  my  word,  let  him  speak  my  word  faith- 
fully "  ?  Let  us  first  of  all  seek  to  possess  it  for  our- 
selves, and  then  let  us  present  it  faithfully  to  our  fellow- 
men.  If  we  would  see  its  power,  we  must  preach  it 
as  we  have  received  it  from  the  Lord.     It  was  to  this 


36  CHAIT  OE  WHEAT? 

same  Jeremiali  tliat  Jehovali  said:  "Preach  tlie 
preaching  that  I  bid  thee ;  diminish  not  a  word " ; 
and  the  most  successful  evangelist  the  world  ever 
saw  was  he  who  could  say  with  truth,  "I  have  not 
shunned  to  declare  unto  you  all  the  counsel  of  God." 
So  let  us  imitate  his  example,  and  set  forth  before 
men  the  whole  truth  as  we  find  it  in  this  book.  Let 
us  exjDose  the  dreadful  nature  and  evil  consequences 
of  sin ;  let  us  publish  the  good  news  of  salvation 
righteously  wrought  out  by  God,  in  love,  for  all  who 
choose  to  accept  of  it ;  let  us  show  that  such  salvation 
is  to  be  had  alone  through  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  let  us  exalt  the  life-giving  agency  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  by  whom  alone  men  are  quickened  into  newness 
of  life — and  let  us  enforce  all  these  statements  by  the 
solemn  sanctions  of  eternal  judgment.  Then  we  may 
expect  to  see  God's  arm  made  bare  again,  as  in  former 
days,  in  the  conversion  of  multitudes ;  and  even  if  in 
that  expectation  we  should  for  a  time,  like  Jeremiah, 
be  disappointed,  we  shall  have  at  least  the  consola- 
tion that  we  have  delivered  our  own  souls  and  have 
sown  seed  which  shall  yet  germinate  in  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  men.  And  now  may  God  help  us  to  lay  these 
things  to  heart,  that  his  name  may  be  glorified. 
Amen. 

November  13,  1883. 


CHKIST   BEFOEE    PILATE— PILATE 
BEFORE   CHRIST. 

Matthew  sxvii.  22. — Pilate  saith  unto  them,  What  shall  I  do, 
then,  with  Jesus,  which  is  called  Christ? 

During  my  late  visit  to  mj  native  land  I  had  tlie 
great  enjoyment  of  seeing,  and  somewhat  carefully 
studying,  Munkacsy's  famous  picture  of  "  Christ  Be- 
fore Pilate."  Rarel}^  if  ever,  have  I  been  so  much 
moved  by  a  work  of  art ;  and  I  propose  this  morning 
to  give  to  you,  as  nearly  as  I  can  recall  it,  the  sermon 
which  it  preaclied  to  me  as  I  sat  and  silently  contem- 
plated the  figures,  which,  even  as  I  looked  at  them, 
seemed  to  grow  before  me  into  life. 

But,  first,  I  must  try. to  describe  to  you  the  picture 
itself.  The  canvas  is-  large,  and  the  figures,  all  of 
which  are  on  the  line  of  sight,  are  of  life  size.  The 
scene  is  in  the  pavement  or  open  court  before  the 
governor's  palace,  which  was  called  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue  Gabbatha,  and  in  which,  after  all  his  elTorts 
to  wriggle  out  of  the  responsibility  of  dealing  with 
the  case,  Pilate  ultimately  gave  up  Jesus  to  be  cruci- 
fied. At  one  end  of  the  court,  on  a  raised  bench,  and 
dressed  in  a  white  toga,  Pilate  sits.  On  either  side  of 
him  are  Jews,  each  of  whom  has  a  marked  and  special 
individuality.  The  two  on  his  left  are  gazing  with 
intense  eagerness  at  Christ.  They  are  evidently  puz- 
zled, and  know  not  well  what  to  make  of  the  myste- 
rious prisoner.  On  his  right,  standing  on  one  of  the 
seats,  and  with  his  back  against  the  wall,  is  a  Scribe, 


38      C  HEIST  BEFOKE  PILATE — PILATE  BEFORE  CHRIST. 

whose  Countenance  is  expressive  of  uttermost  con- 
tempt, and  just  in  front  of  tliis  haughty  fellow  are 
some  Pharisees,  one  of  whom  is  on  his  feet,  and  pas- 
sionately urging  that  Jesus  should  be  put  to  death,  pre- 
sumably on  the  ground  that,  if  Pilate  should  let  him 
go,  he  would  make  it  evident  that  he  was  not  Caesar's 
friend.  Before  them  again  is  a  usurer,  sleek,  fat  and 
self-satisfied,  clearly  taking  great  comfort  to  himself 
in  the  assurance  that,  however  the  matter  may  be 
settled,  his  well-filled  money-bags  will  be  undisturbed. 
Beyond  him  stands  the  Christ  in  a  robe  of  seamless 
white,  and  with  his  wrists  firmly  bound;  while  be- 
hind, kept  in  place  by  a  Roman  soldier,  standing  with 
his  back  to  the  spectator,  and  making  a  barricade 
with  his  spear,  which  he  holds  horizontally,  is  a  mot- 
ley group  of  on-lookers,  not  unlike  that  which  we  may 
still  see  any  day  in  one  of  our  criminal  courts.  Of 
these,  one  more  furious  than  the  rest  is  wildly  ges- 
ticulating, and  crying,  as  we  may  judge  from  his  whole 
attitude,  "  Crucify  him  !  crucify  him  !  "  and  another,  a 
little  to  the  Saviour's  left,  but  in  the  second  row  be- 
hind him,  is  leaning  forward  with  mockery  in  his 
leering  look,  and  making  almost  as  if  he  would  sjDit 
upon  the  saintly  one.  There  is  but  one  really  com- 
passionate face  in  the  crowd,  and  that  is  the  face  of  a 
woman  who,  with  an  infant  in  her  arms,  most  fitly 
represents  those  gentle  daughters  of  Jerusalem  who 
followed  Jesus  to  Calvary  with  tears.  Then,  over  the 
heads  of  the  on-lookers,  and  out  of  the  upper  part  of 
the  doorway  into  the  court,  we  get  a  glimpse  of  the 
quiet  light  of  the  morning  as  it  sleeps  upon  the  walls 
and  turrets  of  the  adjacent  buildings.  All  these  fig- 
ures are  so  distinctly  seen  that  you  feel  you  could 
recognize  them  again  if  you  met  them  anywhere  ;  and 
a  strange  sense  of  reality  comes  upon  you  as  you  look 


CHEIST  BEFOKE   PILATE — PILATE   BEFOEE   CHRIST.      39 

at  tliem,  so  that  you  forget  that  they  are  only  painted, 
and  imagine  that  you  are  gazing  on  living  and  breath- 
ing men. 

But,  as  you  sit  awhile  and  look  on,  you  gradually 
lose  all  consciousness  of  the  presence  of  the  mere 
on-lookers  and  find  your  interest  concentrated  on 
these  two  white-robed  ones,  as  if  they  were  the  only 
figures  before  you.  The  pose  of  the  Christ  is  admir- 
able. It  is  repose  blended  with  dignity ;  self-pos- 
session rising  into  majesty.  There  is  no  agitation  or 
confusion ;  no  fear  or  misgiving  ;  but,  instead,  the  calm 
nobleness  of  him  who  has  just  been  saying  "  Thou 
couldst  have  no  power  at  all  against  me,  except  it 
were  given  thee  from  above  ;  therefore  he  that  de- 
livered me  unto  thee  hath  the  greater  sin."  The  face 
alone  disappoints.  Perhaps  that  may  be  owing  to  the 
lofty  ideal  we  have  of  the  Divine  Man,  so  that  no 
picture  of  our  Lord  would  entirely  please.  But  though 
the  painter  has  wisely  abandoned  the  halo,  and  all 
similar  conventionalisms  of  art,  and  has  delineated  a 
real  man,  for  all  which  he  is  to  be  highly  commended, 
yet  the  eyes  which  look  so  steadily  at  Pilate  as  if  they 
were  looking  him  through,  seem  to  me  to  be  cold, 
keen,  and  condemnatory,  rather  than  compassionate 
and  sad.  It  is  a  conception  of  the  Lord  of  the  same 
sort  as  that  of  Dore,  in  his  well-known  picture  of  the 
leaving  of  the  Praetorium,  and  the  eyes  have  not  in 
them  that  deep  well  of  tenderness  out  of  which  came 
the  tears  which  he  shed  over  Jerusalem,  and  which 
we  expect  to  see  in  them  when  he  is  looking  at  the 
hopeless  struggle  of  a  soul  which  will  not  accept  his 
aid.  It  is  said  that  the  artist,  dissatisfied  with  his  first 
attempt,  has  painted  the  Christ  face  twice  ;  but  this, 
also,  is  a  partial  failure,  and  here,  so  at  least  it  seemed 
to  me  as  I  looked  upon  it,  is  the  one  defect  in  his 


40      CHEIST  BEFOEE   PILATE — PILATE   BEFOEE   CHRIST. 

noble  work.  But  if  there  is  this  defect,  it  is  one  which 
it  shares  with  every  other  effort  that  human  art  has 
made  to  delineate  the  Lord.  The  Pilate,  however,  is 
well-nigh  faultless.  Here  is  a  great,  strong  man,  the 
representative  of  the  mightiest  empire  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  with  a  head  indicating  intellectual  force, 
and  a  face,  especially  in  its  lower  part,  suggestive  of 
sensual  indulgence.  There  is  ordinarily  no  want  of 
firmness  in  him,  as  we  may  see  from  the  general  set 
of  his  features  ;  but  now  there  is  in  his  countenance  a 
marvelous  mixture  of  humiliation  and  irresolution. 
He  cannot  lift  his  eyes  to  meet  the  gaze  of  Christ ;  and 
while  one  of  his  hands  is  nervously  clutching  at  his 
robe  he  is  looking  sadly  into  the  other,  whose  fingers, 
even  as  we  look  at  them,  almost  seem  to  twitch  with 
perplexed  irresolution.  He  is  clearly  pondering  for 
himself  the  question  which  a  few  moments  before  he 
had  addressed  to  the  multitude,  "  What  shall  I  do  with 
Jesus  which  is  called  Christ  ?  "  He  is  annoyed  that 
the  case  has  been  brought  to  him  at  all,  and  as  he 
feels  himself  drifting  on,  against  his  own  better  judg- 
ment, toward  yielding  to  the  clamor  of  the  multitude, 
he  falls  mightily  in  his  own  conceit,  and  begins  to 
despise  himself.  He  would,  at  that  moment,  give,  oh, 
how  much  !  to  be  rid  of  the  responsibility  of  dealing 
with  the  Christ,  but  he  cannot  evade  it ;  and  so  he  sits 
there,  drifting  on  to  what  he  knows  is  a  wrong  de- 
cision, the  very  incarnation  of  the  feeling  which  his 
own  national  poet  described  when  he  said,  "  I  see  and 
approve  the  better  course ;  I  follow  the  worse." 
Thus,  as  we  look  at  these  two,  we  begin  to  discover 
that  it  was  not  Christ  that  was  before  Pilate  so  much 
as  Pilate  that  was  before  Christ.  His  was  the  testing 
experience.  His  was  the  trial ;  his  too,  alas !  was  the 
degradation ;  and  at  that  coming  day  when  the  places 


CHEIST  BEFORE   PILATE — PILATE   BEFORE   CHRIST.      41 

sliall  be  reversed,  wlien  Christ  shall  l3e  on  the  judgment 
seat,  and  Pilate  at  the  bar,  there  will  still  be  that  deep 
self-condemnation  which  the  painter  here  has  fixed 
upon  his  countenance.  It  is  a  marvelous  picture,  in 
many  respects  the  most  remarkable  I  ever  looked 
upon,  and,  even  from  this  imperfect  description  of  it, 
you  will  easily  understand  how  as  I  sat  intent  before 
it  it  stirred  my  soul  to  the  very  depths. 

But  now,  with  this  portrayal  of  the  scene  before  us 
let  us  see  if  we  can  account,  first,  lor  the  hesitation  of 
Pilate  to  give  up  the  Lord,  and  then  for  his  final 
yielding  to  the  clamor  of  the  people.  Why  all  this 
reluctance  on  his  part  to  send  Jesus  to  the  cross  ?  He 
was  not  usually  so  scrupulous.  A  human  life  more 
or  less  gave  him  generally  very  little  concern.  He 
had  all  a  Koman's  indifference  for  the  comfort  of  those 
who  stood  in  any  respect  in  his  way ;  and  had  no  com- 
punction, as  we  know,  in  mingling  the  blood  of  certain 
turbulent  Jews  with  the  very  sacrifices  which  at  the  mo- 
ment they  were  offering.  Had  Christ  been  a  Roman 
citizen,  indeed,  he  would  most  likely  have  been  very 
watchful  over  his  safety,  for  in  regard  to  all  such  the 
imperial  law  was  peculiarly  strict,  but  the  life  of  a  mere 
Jew  was  a  very  small  thing  in  his  estimation.  Where- 
fore then,  this  unwonted  squeamishness  of  conscience  ? 
It  was  the  result  of  a  combination  of  particulars,  each 
of  which  had  a  special  force  of  its  own,  and  the  aggre- 
gate of  which  so  wrought  upon  his  mind  that  he  was 
brought  thereby  to  a  stand. 

There  was,  in  the  first  place,  the  peculiar  char- 
acter of  the  prisoner.  A  very  slight  examination 
had  been  suflicieut  to  convince  him  that  Christ 
was  innocent  of  the  charge  which  had  been  brought 
against  him.     But   in   the   course   of  that   examina- 


42      CHRIST  BEPOEE  TILATE — PILATE  BEFORE  CHRIST. 

tion  mucli  more  than  tlie  innocence  of  Christ  had 
come  to  view.  He  had  manifested  a  dignified  pa- 
tience altogether  unlike  anything  that  Pilate  had  ever 
seen ;  and  his  answers  to  certain  questions  had  been 
so  strangely  suggestive  of  something  higher  and  nobler 
than  even  the  most  exalted  earthly  philosophy  that 
he  could  not  look  upon  him  as  a  common  prisoner. 
He  was  no  mere  fanatic;  neither  was  he  after  the 
pattern  of  any  existing  school,  whether  Jewish,  Greek, 
or  Koman.  There  was  about  him  an  "  other-world- 
liness"  which  brought  those  near  him  into  close 
proximity,  for  the  time,  with  the  unseen ;  and  an 
elevation  which  lifted  him  above  the  tumult  that  was 
howling  for  his  destruction.  Probably  Pilate  could 
not  have  described  it  to  himself,  but  there  was  some- 
thing which  he  felt  unusual  and  exceptional  in  this 
man,  marking  him  out  from  every  other  he  ever  had 
before  him,  and  constraining  him  to  take  a  special 
interest  in  his  case.  Add  to  this  that  his  wife  had 
sent  to  him  that  singular  message — "  Have  thou 
nothing  to  do  with  that  just  man,  for  I  have  suffered 
many  things  this  day  in  a  dream  because  of  him," — a 
message  which,  in  those  days  of  mingled  scepticism 
and  superstition — -for  the  two  always  go  hand  in  hand — 
must  have  produced  a  deep  impression  on  his  mind. 
Moreover,  there  seemed  some  fatality  about  the  case. 
He  had  tried  to  roll  it  over  upon  Herod,  but  that 
wily  monarch  sent  the  prisoner  back  upon  his  hands. 
He  had  attempted  to  release  him,  as  the  passover 
prisoner  for  the  year,  but  neither  was  there  any  outlet 
for  him  in  that,  for  the  people  had  jDreferred  Barab- 
bas.  And  so  the  responsibility  had  come  again  to  his 
own  door,  and  could  not  be  passed  on  to  another. 
Still  again,  he  saw  that  the  Jews  were  acting  most 
hypocritically  in  the  matter.     It  was  a  new  thing  for 


CHKIST   BEFORE   PILATE — PILATE  BEFORE  CHRIST.      43 

them  to  be  zealous  for  the  honor  of  Caesar,  and  he 
could  easily  see  through  the  mask  they  wore,  into  the 
envy  and  malice  which  were  the  motives  for  their 
conduct.  The  deeper  he  went  into  the  case  he  dis- 
covered only  the  more  reason  for  resisting  their 
importunity,  and,  however  he  looked  at  it,  his  plain 
duty  wa«  to  set  the  prisoner  free. 

"Why  then,  again  we  ask,  was  his  perplexity  ?  The 
answer  is  suggested  by  the  taunt  of  the  Jews,  "  If  thou 
let  this  man  go  thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend ;  whoso- 
ever maketh  himself  a  king  speaketh  against  Caesar." 
He  foresaw  that  if  he  resisted  the  will  of  the  rulers 
he  would  make  them  his  enemies,  and  so  provoke 
them  to  complain  of  him  to  the  emperor,  who  would 
then  institute  an  inquiry  into  his  administration 
of  his  office — and  that  he  was  not  prepared  to  face. 
He  had  done  things  as  a  governor  which  would 
not  bear  the  light,  and  so  at  the  crisis  of  his  life  he 
was  fettered  by  deeds  of  the  past  from  doing  that 
which  he  felt  to  be  the  duty  of  the  present.  You  may, 
perhaps,  remember  that  expression  of  the  prophet, 
which  thus  reads  in  the  margin  :  "  Their  doings  will 
not  suffer  them  to  turn  unto  their  God";*  and  that 
other,  which  affirms,  concerning  Israel :  "  Their  own 
doings  have  beset  them  about."!  Now,  these  descrip- 
tions niost  accurately  define  the  cause  of  Pilate's  per- 
plexity here.  His  conduct  in  the  past  had  been  such 
that  he  had  not  the  courage  to  take  any  course  which 
might  lead  to  an  investigation  of  that.  If  he  could 
deliver  Christ  without  provoking  that,  then  he  would 
most  cheerfully  do  so  ;  but  if  by  delivering  Christ  he 
would  provoke  that,  then  Christ  must  be  given  up  to 
the  cross.      Hence  his  perplexity   at   the   first,  and 

*  Hosea  v.  4.  f  Ibid,  vii.  2. 


44      CHRIST  BEFORE  PILATE — PILATE  BEFORE  CHRIST. 

lience,  also,  liis  yielding  in  tlie  end.  His  past  mis- 
deeds had  put  liim  virtually  into  the  power  of  those 
who  were  now  so  eager  for  the  condemnation  of  the 
Christ.  On  three  several  occasions  his  arbitrariness 
had  been  such  as  all  but  to  instigate  a  rebellion 
among  the  people,  and  his  cruelty  and  contempt  for 
justice,  when  he  had  a  personal  end  to  gain,  were  sure, 
npon  appeal  to  the  emperor,  to  be  severely  punished ; 
so  to  save  himself  from  banishment  and  disgrace,  if 
not  even  death,  he  delivered  over  Jesus  to  the  will  of 
the  JeAvs.  He  wdshed  to  do  right  in  this  case  more 
than  ever  he  had  wished  before  ;  there  was  something 
about  it  which  in  his  view  made  it  more  important 
that  he  should  do  right  now  than  ever  before  ;  but 
through  all  his  past  official  life  he  had,  by  his 
enormities  and  oppressions,  been  unconsciously  weav- 
ing round  himself  a  net,  in  the  meshes  of  which  he  is 
now  inextricably  caught.  His  guilty  conscience  made 
him  a  coward  at  the  very  time  when  most  of  all  he 
wanted  to  be  brave.  He  had  come  to  his  "  narrow 
place,"  where  he  could  turn  neither  to  the  right  hand 
nor  to  the  left,  but  must  face  the  naked  alternative 
"  yes "  or  "  no "  ;  and  he  fell  because  in  his  former 
life,  when  he  was  thinking  of  no  such  ordeal,  he  had 
sold  himself  by  his  evil  deeds  into  the  power  of  the 
enemy. 

Now,  what  a  lesson  there  is  in  all  this  for  us !  Men 
think  that  they  may  live  for  the  time  being  as  they 
jDlease,  and  that  at  a  convenient  season  they  can  re- 
pent and  turn  to  God.  But  the  present  is  condition- 
ing the  future,  and  making  it  either  possible  or  the 
reverse  for  us  to  do  right  in  the  future.  He  who  neg- 
lects the  laws  of  health  every  day,  and  lives  in  intem- 
perance and  excess  of  all  kinds,  is  only  making  it  abso- 
lutely certain  that  when  fever  lays  him  low  he  will 


CHKIST   EEFOKE   PILATE — PILATE   BEFOEE   CHEIST.      45 

die,  for  he  lias  eaten  out  tlie  strength  of  his  constitu- 
tion bj  his  follies.  And,  in  the  same  way,  he  who  sets 
all  morality  at  defiance  in  his  ordinary  conduct  only 
makes  it  inevitable  that  when  his  convenient  season 
does  come,  when  his  time  of  privilege  and  testing  does 
arrive,  he  will  fail  to  rise  to  the  occasion,  and  be  swept 
away  into  perdition.  The  tenor  of  our  ordinary  life 
determines  how  we  shall  pass  through  exceptional 
and  crucial  occasions,  therefore  let  us  bring  that  up 
to  the  highest  level  by  doing  everything  as  unto  God, 
and  then  we  shall  be  ready  for  any  emergency. 

Nor  let  me  forget  to  add  here,  that  in  spite  of  all 
his  efforts  to  keep  back  investigation,  Pilate's  day  of 
reckoning  with  the  emperor  did  come.  The  Jews 
complained  of  him  after  all,  in  spite  of  his  yielding 
to  them  now  ;  and  as  the  result  he  was  banished,  and 
afterwards,  so  tradition  says,  he  committed  suicide. 
Thus  the  ordeal  and  the  disgrace  came,  notwithstand- 
ing all  he  did  to  avert  them,  and  he  had  not  under 
them  the  solace  which  he  might  have  enjoyed  if  only 
he  had  stood  firm  on  this  great  and  memorable  occa- 
sion. Therefore  let  us  all,  and  especially  the  young, 
take  to  ourselves,  as  the  first  lesson  from  this  deeply 
interesting  history,  that  we  should  be  careful  not  to 
hamjDer  ourselves  for  the  discharge  of  duty  in  the 
future  by  the  guilt  of  the  present.  By  our  conduct 
now  we  are  either  coiling  cords  around  us  which  shall 
hold  us  fast  at  the  very  time  when  we  most  desire  to 
be  free,  or  we  are  forming  and  fostering  a  strength 
of  character  which,  through  God,  will  triumph  over 
every  temptation.  If  "  to  be  weak  is  to  be  miserable," 
it  is  no  less  true  that  to  be  guilty  is  to  be  weak.  Pre- 
serve yourselves,  therefore,  from  this  danger,  and  seek 
above  all  other  things  to  keep  your  consciences  clean  ; 
then  when  you  need  all  your  strength  for  a  crisis,  you 


46      CHEIST  BEFORE   PILATE — PILATE   BEFOKE   CHEIST. 

will  not  sit,  like  Pilate  here,  in  nervous  perplexity,  be- 
moaning your  helplessness  even  while  you  yield  to  the 
adversary ;  but  you  will  shake  the  temj)tation  from 
you  with  as  much  ease  as  the  eagle  shakes  the  dew- 
drop  fi'om  his  wing.  Keep  yourselves  pure  :  so  shall 
your  youth  be  full  of  happiness,  and  you  shall  go 
forth  out  of  it  with  no  encumbering  past  to  clog  the 
wheels  of  your  endeavor.  How  happy  he  whose  youth 
time  thus  leaves  him  with  a  smile  and  sends  him 
forth  upon  the  duties  of  manhood  with  a  benediction ! 
But  he,  how  miserable  !  whose  early  years  heap  bitter 
maledictions  on  his  head,  and  push  him  forward  into 
active  life  with  a  conscience  already  laden  with  guilt, 
and  a  soul  as  weak  before  temptation  as  a  reed  is  be- 
fore the  wind. 

But  while  there  is  thus  in  this  history  a  lesson  for 
all  time,  I  think  Munkacsy,  by  the  appearance  of  his 
wondrous  picture  now,  has  made  it  evident  that  there 
is  also  something  in  it  specially  adapted  to  these 
modern  days.  It  is  with  artists  in  the  choice  of  their 
subjects  as  it  is  with  ministers  in  the  selection  of 
their  themes.  Both  alike,  consciously  and  uncon- 
sciously, and  most  frequently  perhaps,  unconsciously, 
are  affected  by  the  spirit  of  their  age.  The  atmos- 
jjhere — literary,  moral,  political,  and  religious — which 
is  round  about  them,  and  which  they  are  daily  breath- 
ing, does,  insensibly  to  themselves,  so  influence  them 
that  their  thoughts  are  turned  by  it  into  a  channel 
different  from  that  in  which  those  of  a  former  gen- 
eration flowed.  Hence,  whether  the  painter  would 
admit  it  or  not,  I  see  in  this  picture,  at  this  juncture, 
at  once  a  mirror  of  the  times  and  a  lesson  for  them. 
The  question  of  Pilate,  "What  shall  i  do,  then,  with 
Jesus  which  is  called  the  Christ  ?  "  is  pre-eminently 


CHEIST   BEFORE   PILATE — PILATE- BEFORE   CHRIST.      47 

the  question  of  the  present  age.  No  doubt  we  may 
say  with  truth  that  it  has  been  the  question  of  all  the 
Christian  centuries,  and  each  one  of  them  has  faced  it 
and  solved  it  after  its  own  fashion.  It  has  tested  the 
centuries  even  as  it  tested  Pilate,  and  those  in  which 
Christ  was  rejected  have  been  the  darkest  in  the 
world's  history ;  while  those  in  which  he  has  been 
hailed  as  the  Incarnate  God  have  been  the  brightest 
which  the  earth  has  ever  seen,  because  irradiated 
with  truth,  and  justice,  and  benevolence  and  purity. 
But  though  we  are  always  prone  to  exaggerate  that 
in  the  midst  of  which  we  are  ourselves,  it  seems  to  me 
that  in  no  one  age  since  that  of  the  primitive  church 
has  this  testing  question  been  so  prominent  as  in  our 
own.  All  the  controversies  of  our  times,  social,  philo- 
sophical, and  theological,  lead  up  to  and  find  their 
ultimate  hinge  in  the  answer  to  this  inquiry,  "  Who 
is  this  Jesus  Christ  ?  "  If  he  be  a  mere  man,  then 
there  is  for  us  nothing  but  uncertainty  on  any  subject, 
outside  of  the  domain  of  the  exact  sciences ;  and  we 
must  all  become  agnostics,  holding  this  one  negative 
article  of  belief,  that  nothing  can  be  known  about 
anything  save  that  of  which  we  can  take  cognizance 
with  the  bodily  senses.  But  if  he  be  Incarnate  God, 
then  he  brings  with  him  from  heaven  the  final  word  on 
all  subjects  concerning  which  he  has  spoken ;  and 
though  in  his  person  he  is  the  mystery  of  mysteries, 
yet,  once  received,  he  becomes  forthwith  the  solution 
of  all  mysteries,  and  faith  in  him  is  at  once  the  satis- 
faction of  the  intellect  and  the  repose  of  the  heart.  It  is 
perfectly  natural,  therefore,  that  all  the  controversies 
of  the  day  should  turn  on  him.  The  Lives  of  Christ 
which  have  been  written  during  the  last  thirty  or  forty 
years  would  make  in  themselves  a  very  respectable 
library ;  and  the  cry  even  of  the  sceptic  is,  "  I  could  get 


48      CHRIST  BEFORE   PILATE — PILATE   BEFORE   CHRIST. 

on  very  well  with  unbelief,  if  I  only  knew  what  to  make 
of  Christ."  Yes,  that  is  just  the  difficulty.  Christ  is  here 
in  the  Scriptures  a  character  portrayed  in  literature  ; 
he  was  in  the  world  for  thirty-three  years,  and  lived  a 
life  excej)tional  in  every  respect,  but  most  of  all  in  the 
moral  and  sj^iritual  departments,  so  that  of  him  alone 
l^erfection  can  be  predicated  ;  he  has  been  ever  since 
a  most  potent  factor  in  history,  for  through  his  influ- 
ence all  that  is  pure,  and  noble,  and  exalted,  and  lovely 
and  of  good  report,  has  come  into  our  civilization. 
Now,  these  things  have  to  be  accounted  for.  If  he 
was  only  a  man,  how  shall  we  explain  them  ?  and  if 
he  was  more  than  a  man  shall  we  not  take  his  own 
testimony  as  to  his  dignity  and  mission  ?  If  we  are 
to  be  unbelievers,  we  must  account  for  Christ  on 
natural  princijjles ;  but  if  we  cannot  do  that,  then 
we  must  receive  him  as  he  claims  to  be  received. 
There  is  no  alternative.  Those  in  the  age  who  have 
the  spirit  and  disposition  of  Pilate  will  anew  reject 
him ;  but  those  who  are  sincere  and  earnest  in  their 
inquiries  will  come  ultimately  out  into  the  light,  for 
"  if  any  man  be  willing  to  do  his  will,  he  shall  know 
of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God." 

And  what  is  true  of  the  age,  as  a  whole,  is  true 
also  of  every  individual  to  whom  the  gospel  is  pro- 
claimed. For  each  of  us,  my  hearers,  this  is  the 
question  of  questions,  "  What  shall  I  do  with  Jesus 
which  is  called  Christ  ?  "  Shall  I  reject  him  and  live 
precisely  as  if  I  had  never  heard  his  name  ?  or  shall 
I  accept  him  as  the  Lord  from  heaven  in  human 
nature,  trust  in  him  as  my  Saviour,  and  obey  him  as 
my  king  !  I  must  do  the  one  or  the  other  ;  and  yet 
how  many  are  seeking,  like  Pilate,  to  evade  the  ques- 
tion?    They  try  to  escape  the  responsibility  of  deal- 


CHEIST  BEFOEE   PILATE — PILATE   BEFORE   CHKIST.       49 

ing  witli  it  as  a  direct  alternative  of  yes  or  no.  But 
as  one  has  well  said,  "  necessity  is  laid  upon  us.  The 
adversaries  of  Christ  press  upon  us  to  give  our  ver- 
dict against  him.  We  are  troubled  and  perplexed, 
for  we  have  long  heard  about  him,  and  have  had  each 
of  us  his  own  convictions.  We  would  still  remain  neu- 
tral. We  try — and  try  in  vain — to  escape  from  the 
spirit,  the  conversation,  the  literature,  the  question  of 
the  times.  Again  and  again  we  wash  our  hands.  But 
neither  our  silence  nor  our  actions  are  of  any  avail ; 
and  so  we  are  found  sitting,  conscious  of  the  presence 
and  the  claims  of  our  Saviour,  and,  like  Pilate,  not 
daring  to  look  at  him,  as  we  puzzle  over  the  answer 
which  we  must  give  to  the  question  that  is  being 
forced  upon  us — Who  ^'s  this  Jesus  Christ  ?  "  Per- 
haps this  description  accurately  portrays  some  one 
here  this  morning.  If  so,  let  me  give  him  one  part- 
ing word.  It  is  this  :   You  cannot  evade  the  decision, 

BUT  BE  SURE  THAT  YOU  LOOK   AT  THE   ChRIST  BEFORE  YOU 

GIVE  HIM  UP.  Nothing  is  so  remarkable  in  the  pict- 
ure to  which  I  have  so  often  this  day  referred  as  the 
evident  persistency  with  which  Pilate  keeps  his  eyes 
from  Christ ;  and  few  things  are  so  saddening  as  to 
meet  with  men  who  profess  to  have,  and  really  have, 
difficulties  about  Christ,  but  who  have  never  read  the 
gospels  or  the  New  Testament  with  any  attention. 
Let  me  urge  you,  therefore,  to  study  these  gospels  and 
epistles  before  you  give  your  voice  against  the  Lord, 
and  I  am  very  sure  that  if  you  ponder  them  thoroughly 
you  will  soon  accept  him.  Give  over  trying  to  solve 
all  the  difficulties  and  so-called  discrepancies  in  the 
Scriptures  which  form  the  stock-in-trade  of  the  infidel 
lecturer — all  these  are  but  as  dust  which  he  raises 
that  he  may  blind  your  eyes  to  the  really  important 
question,  "  Who  is  Christ  ?"  Settle  that,  and  if  you 
3 


50      CHEIST  BEFOEE   PILATE — PILATE  BEFORE   CHRIST. 

do,  all  other  difficulties  will  vanisli.  Turn  your  face 
to  the  light,  and  the  shadow  will  fall  behind  you. 
Look  at  the  Christ  before  you  giv^e  him  up.  And 
remember,  if  you  do  reject  Christ,  you  have  still 
to  account  for  him.  It  is  unreasonable  for  you,  if 
you  believe  only  in  the  natural  and  material,  to  leave 
such  a  phenomenon  as  Christ  unexplained.  Yes,  and  I 
must  add,  if  you  reject  him  you  must  yet  account  to 
him.  Go,  then,  and  ponder  this  text ;  yea,  may  it 
continue  sounding  in  your  inmost  heart  until  you  have 
determined  to  receive  and  rest  upon  him  as  your 
only  Saviour,  and  say  to  him,  like  Thomas,  "  My 
Lord  and  my  God." 

OCTOBEK   15,    1883. 


CAPTIVITIES   AND   HOW  TO  IMPEOYE 
THEM. 

Jeremiah  sxix.  10-14. — For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  That  after  sev- 
enty years  be  accomplished  at  Babylon  I  will  visit  you,  and  perform 
my  good  word  toward  you,  in  causing  you  to  return  to  this  place. 
For  I  know  the  thoughts  that  I  think  toward  you,  saith  the  Lord, 
thoughts  of  peace,  and  not  of  evil,  to  give  you  an  expected  end. 
Then  shall  ye  call  upon  me,  and  ye  shall  go  and  pray  unto  me,  and  I 
will  hearken  unto  you.  And  ye  shall  seek  me  and  find  me,  when  ye 
shall  search  for  me  with  all  your  heart.  And  I  will  be  found  of  you, 
saith  the  Lord  :  and  I  will  turn  away  your  captivity,  and  1  will 
gather  you  from  all  the  nations,  and  from  all  the  places  whither  I 
have  driven  you,  saith  the  Lord;  and  I  will  bring  you  again  into  the 
place  whence  I  caused  you  to  be  carried  away  captive. 

When  God  sends  his  people  on  a  pilgrimage,  lie 
gives  tliem  a  staff  to  support  them  by  the  way.  So, 
after  ten  thousand  captives  had  been  taken  by  Neb- 
uchadnezzar from  Jerusalem  to  Babylon,  he  caused 
his  servant  Jeremiah  to  write  them  the  letter  which 
is  contained  in  this  chapter,  and  in  which  he  cheers 
them  with  the  prospect  of  ultimate  deliverance.  They 
had  been  very  unmindful  of  his  covenant,  and  most 
disrespectful  to  his  prophet,  yet  he  had  not  forgot- 
ten them,  and  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
messenger  whom  they  had  formerly  despised  he  sends 
them  the  strongest  consolation.  Now,  in  all  this  we 
discover  certain  similarities  to  our  own  exjDerience, 
and  I  am  sure  that  you  will  not  accuse  me  of  any 
unwarrantable  accommodation  of  the  passage  which  I 
have  just  read,  if  I  seek  to  bring  out  of  it  some  great 


52     CAPTIVITIES  AND  HOW  TO  IMPROVE  THEM. 

truths  wliicli  liokT  in  all  circumstances,  and  whicli  are 
profitable  both  for  warning  and  for  comfort. 

I.  To  begin  with,  then,  we  may  describe  every  real 
affliction  which  comes  upon  the  Christian  as  a  cap- 
tivity. We  have  now,  indeed,  no  such  deportations 
as  those  made  by  Eastern  warriors  when  they  carried 
the  populations  of  conquered  countries  away  from 
their  homes  to  foreign  lands.  They  designed  thereby 
to  break  up  the  sentiment  of  nationality  among  the 
captives  themselves,  and  to  remove  from  the  newly 
acquired  provinces  all  incitement  to  insurrection ; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  they  strengthened  the  centers 
of  their  empires  by  the  addition  of  skilled  artisans, 
scholars  and  agriculturists.  Those  who  were  thus 
removed  from  their  native  homes  were  for  the  most 
jDart  generously  treated.  They  were  regarded  as  col- 
onists rather  than  as  slaves ;  nevertheless,  they  were 
taken  whither  they  did  not  desire  to  go,  and  they 
were  prevented  from  going  to  the  land  after  which 
their  hearts  were  longing.  It  is  not  wrong,  therefore, 
to  speak  of  them  as  captives.  They  were  led  through 
experiences  into  which  they  would  never  have  gone  of 
their  own  accord,  and  they  were  held  back  from  the 
pleasures  and  occupations  to  which  they  would  will- 
ingly have  returned.  That  was  the  essence  of  their 
captivity.  But  is  it  not  also  the  essence  of  every  sort 
of  affliction  ?  To  be  in  a  condition  which  we  never 
should  have  voluntarily  preferred,  or  to  be  held  back, 
by  the  power  of  something  which  we  cannot  control, 
from  that  which  we  eagerly  desire  to  do, — is  not  that 
tlie  very  thing  in  an  experience  which  makes  it  a 
trial?  Take  bodily  illness,  for  example,  and  when 
you  get  at  the  root  of  the  discomfort  of  it,  you  find  it 
in  the  union  of  these  two  things :  you  are  where  you 


CAPTIVITIES  AND   HOW  TO   IMPROVE   THEM.  53 

do  not  want  to  be,  and  wliere  you  would  never  have 
thouglit  of  putting  yourself,  and  you  are  held  there, 
whether  you  will  or  not,  by  the  irresistible  might  of 
your  own  weakness.  No  external  force  has  been  ex- 
erted upon  you ;  no  sentinel  keeps  visible  guard  at 
your  chamber  door  to  prevent  your  exit,  yet  you  are 
a  prisoner  as  really  as  if  you  were  encelled  in  the 
Tombs.  You  do  not  relish  the  situation.  There  is 
nothing  in  it,  in  itself  considered,  to  attract  you  to  it. 
You  would  not  have  been  in  it  if  you  could  have 
helped  it ;  and  now  that  you  are  in  it  you  cannot  go 
about  your  ordinary  duties.  Your  business  has  to  do 
without  you.  The  appointments  you  have  made  have 
to  go  unkept.  The  transactions  you  expected  to  com- 
plete have  to  be  let  alone.     You  are  a  captive. 

But  the  same  thing  comes  out  in  every  sort  of 
affliction.  You  are,  let  me  suppose,  in  business  per- 
plexities. Well,  that  is  not  of  your  own  choosing.  If 
you  could  have  accomplished  it,  you  would  have  been 
in  quite  different  circumstances.  But,  in  spite  of  you, 
things  have  gone  crooked.  Men  whom  you  had  im- 
plicitly trusted,  and  whom  you  would  have  had  no 
more  thought  of  doubting  than  you  have  thought  now 
of  doubting  your  mother's  love  to  you,  have  j)roved 
deceitful.  Or,  perhaps,  the  partner  whom  in  days 
gone  by  you  had  been  the  means  of  enriching  has 
turned  against  you,  and  is  seeking  to  worry  you  into 
the  sacrifice  of  that  which  you  know  is  really  yours. 
And  so  you  are  at  a  standstill.  You  have  been  car- 
ried from  the  Jerusalem  of  comfort  to  the  Babylon  of 
perplexity,  by  no  effort  of  yours,  nay,  perhaps,  against 
the  utmost  resistance  on  your  part,  and  now  you  can 
do  nothing.  Your  resources  are  locked  up,  if  they  be 
not  lost,  and  when  your  symjDathies  are  moved  for 
some    suffering   fellow-man,    or   for   some   deserving 


54  CAPTIVITIES  AND  HOW  TO  IMPEOVE  THEM. 

cause,  or  for  some  Christian  enterprise,  you  feel  tliat 
you  cannot  give  as  you  did  formerly,  or  it  may  be 
that  you  cannot  give  at  all, — that  is,  you  are  a  captive. 
So  sometimes,  also,  our  providential  duties  are  a 
kind  of  affliction  to  us.  We  had  no  choice  in  deter- 
mining whether  we  would  assume  them.  They  came 
to  us,  unbidden,  at  least,  if  not  undesired,  and  they 
have  chained  us  to  themselves,  so  that  when  we  are 
asked  to  take  part  in  some  effort  for  the  benefit  of 
others  we  are  compelled  to  say  "  No."  We  would  a 
great  deal  rather  have  said  "Yes"  :  it  is  a  trial  to  us 
to  refuse  ;  but  we  are  hemmed  in  by  prior  and  press- 
ing obligations,  and  we  cannot  do  otherwise.  Which 
of  us  knows  not  an  experience  like  that  ?  The  chain 
that  binds  us  may  be  one  that  has  come  to  us  clearly  in 
the  way  of  Providence.  Yet  for  the  moment  we  would 
that  we  were  free.  Our  very  most  sacred  responsi- 
bilities— God  help  us !  what  weak  creatures  we  are  ! 
— are  sometimes  felt  by  us  as  fetters  which  hold  us 
back  from  enterprises  of  great  pith  and  moment. 
Thus  this  old  captivity,  which  marked  an  era  in  the 
history  of  God's  ancient  people,  and  which  forms  the 
theme  of  so  many  plaintive  psalms,  repeats  itself,  in 
some  degree,  in  the  life  of  every  believer,  and  our 
modern  trials  furnish  us  with  a  key  wherewith,  we 
may  unlock  for  ourselves  the  prophetic  casket  in 
which  such  treasures  of  consolation  are  laid  up. 

II.  For  now  I  proceed  to  remark  that  every  captiv- 
ity of  which  the  Christian  is  the  victim  will  have  an 
end.  Jeremiah  here  declares  that  after  a  set  time  of 
seventy  years  the  enforced  absence  of  the  people  from 
their  own  land  would  cease.  And  the  student  of 
ancient  history  knows  that  this  all  came  to  pass.  At 
the  date  at  which  the  prophet  wrote,  indeed,   there 


CAPTIVITIES  AND   HOW  TO  IMPROVE  THEM.  55 

was,  to  human  view,  but  little  likelihood  that  such 
a  change  would  come.  Nebuchadnezzar  was  in  his 
glory.  The  Babylonian  empire  was  at  the  zenith  of 
its  splendor,  and  it  did  not  seem  probable  that  it 
would  be  speedily  overthrown.  Yet,  in  a  w^onderful 
way,  Cyrus,  who  had  been  called  the  servant  and  the 
shepherd  of  the  Lord  by  Ilaiah,  obtained  possession 
of  the  dominions  of  Belshazzar,  and  the  very  first  year 
of  his  Babylonian  reign  was  signalized  by  the  issue  of 
that  famous  decree  which  gave  the  Jews  permission 
to  return  to  their  own  country,  and  encouraged  them 
to  rebuild  the  temple  of  their  God.  Now,  in  a  similar 
way,  we  may  be  sure  that  sooner  or  later  our  provi- 
dential captivities  will  come  to  an  end.  "  Time  and 
the  hour  run  through  the  roughest  day."  "Be  the 
day  weary,  or  be  the  day  long,  at  last  it  ringeth  to 
even-song."  It  is  but  a  little  while,  at  the  longest, 
and  we  shall  be  where  "  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  for- 
ever flee  away."  This  state  of  limitation,  this  con- 
flict between  our  aspirations  and  our  abilities,  is  not 
to  last  forever.  We  may  hope  that  it  will  come  to  an 
end  even  here  uj)on  the  earth,  but  we  may  be  sure 
that  it  will  not  continue  beyond  the  grave.  And 
there  is  much  even  in  that  thought  to  give  us  comfort. 
"  The  things  concerning  us  have  an  end."  Not  for- 
ever shall  we  be  in  bondage  to  the  weakness  of  the 
body,  hampered  by  its  liability  to  disease,  and  hin- 
dered by  its  proneness  to  fatigue.  Not  always  shall 
we  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  unscrupulous  and  dishon- 
est. Not  continually  shall  we  be  held  down  by  the 
encumbrances  that  overweight  us  here  on  earth.  For 
in  the  fatherland  above  we  shall  work  without  weari- 
ness, and  serve  God  without  imperfection.  So  in  the 
prospect  of  that  home  we  may  well  be  reconciled  for  a 
season  to  the  discomforts  of  our  present  exile. 


56  CAPTIVITIES  AND  HOW  TO   IMPROVE  THEM. 

But,  wliile  there  is  miicli  in  tliis  view  of  the  case  to 
sustain  us,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  moral  end 
which  God  has  in  view  in  sending  us  into  our  cap- 
tivity, Mark  these  words  of  the  Lord,  "  I  know  the 
thoughts  that  I  think  toward  you,  thoughts  of  peace 
and  not  of  evil,  to  give  you  an  expected  end,"  He 
sees  the  result  from  the  beginning,  even  as  at  the  first 
the  eye  of  the  artist  beholds  the  finished  statue  in  the 
rough  block  of  marble  that  has  just  come  to  him  from 
the  quarry  ;  and  all  the  afilictions  which  he  sends  are 
but  like  the  hammer-strokes  of  the  sculptor,  each  of 
which  removes  some  imperfection  or  brings  some  new 
loveliness  to  view.  Observe  how  it  was  with  the 
Israelites  in  the  case  before  us.  During  all  the  years 
of  their  history,  from  the  very  exodus  on  to  the  cap- 
tivity, their  besetment  was  idolatry.  Ever  and  anon 
they  were  falling  into  the  worship  of  some  of  their 
neighbors'  gods  ;  sometimes  they  followed  Baal,  and 
sometimes,  as  in  the  days  of  Ahaz,  altars  were  erected 
on  the  very  roof  of  the  Temple,  apparently  for  the 
worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  But  from  the  time 
of  their  removal  to  Babylon  all  that  disaj)peared. 
Their  captivity  gave  the  death-blow  to  their  idolatry, 
and  thenceforth  they  worshiped  only  God.  More- 
over, their  absence  from  Jerusalem,  and  the  cessation 
of  their  Temple  ritual,  threw  them  back  on  God  him- 
self, and  from  this  date  prayer  assumed  an  importance 
among  them  that  it  had  not  before  possessed.  Cut  off 
from  access  to  the  house  of  God,  they  sought  God  him- 
self the  more  earnestly,  and  found,  in  very  deed,  that  he 
was  not  confined  to  temples  made  with  hands.  Now, 
also,  the  written  word  began  to  be  studied  by  them, 
and  synagogues  for  its  weekly  public  reading  were  in- 
stituted among  them.  Thus  they  increased  in  spirit- 
uality of   character  ;  they  learned  to  walk  more  by 


CAPTrVITIES  AND   HOW  TO  IMPEOVE   THEM.  57 

faith  and  less  by  sight ;  and  the  forms  of  their  relig- 
ion, instead  of  being  ends  in  themselves,  became  to 
them  only  the  means  of  ministering  to  their  fellowship 
with  Jehovah. 

Now,  is  it  not  precisely  in  these  ways  yet  that  God, 
through  affliction,  works  out  the  sanctification  of  our 
souls  ?  Ah !  how  many  of  our  idolatries  he  has  re- 
buked and  rectified  by  our  captivities  !  We  had  been 
worshiping  our  reputation,  and  lo !  an  illness  came 
which  laid  us  aside,  and  our  names  were  by  and  by  for- 
gotten, as  new  men  came  to  the  front ;  and  then,  learn- 
ing the  folly  of  our  false  ambition,  we  turned  from  the 
idolatry  of  self  to  the  homage  of  Jehovah.  Or,  we 
had  made  an  idol  of  our  business.  We  had  great 
ideas  of  what  we  should  make  of  it,  and  we  thought 
of  leaving  it  as  a  legacy  to  our  children,  and  perpet- 
uating our  name  in  connection  with  it ;  but  now  it  is 
in  ruins,  and  as  we  see  the  jDerishableness  of  earthly 
things,  we  turn  to  Him  who  is  unchanging  and  eter- 
nal. Or,  we  had  made  a  god  of  our  dwelling,  and  by 
some  reverse  of  fortune  it  is  swept  away  from  us,  just 
that  we  might  learn  the  meaning  of  that  old  song  of 
Moses,  "  Lord,  thou  hast  been  our  dwelling-place  in 
all  generations." 

How  many  portions  of  his  word,  also,  have  been 
explained  to  us  by  our  trials  !  There  is  no  com- 
mentator of  the  Scriptures  half  so  valuable  as  a  cap- 
tivity. It  unfolds  new  beauties  where  all  had  ap- 
peared to  be  beautiful  before  ;  and  where  formerly 
there  was  what  we  thought  a  wilderness,  it  has  re- 
vealed to  us  a  fruitful  field.  The  old  psalms  have 
quavered  for  us  with  a  new  pathos  as  we  sat  by  our 
"  Babel's  stream,"  and  have  sounded  for  us  with  a 
new  joy  as  we  found  our  captivity  turned  as  the 
streams  in  the  South.  The  man  who  has  seen  much 
3* 


68         CAPTivrriEs  and  how  to  improve  them. 

affliction  will  not  readily  part  with  liis  copy  of  the 
word  of  God.  Another  book  may  seem  to  others  to 
be  identical  with  his  own  ;  but  it  is  not  the  same  to 
him,  for  over  his  old  and  tear-stained  Bible  he  has 
written,  in  characters  which  are  visible  to  no  eyes  but 
his  own,  the  record  of  his  experiences,  and  ever  and 
anon  he  comes  on  Bethel  pillars  or  Elim  palms,  which 
are  to  him  the  memorials  of  some  critical  chapter 
in  his  history.  How  many  of  us,  too,  might  say  with 
truth  that  we  had  never  really  prayed  until  God  sent 
lis  into  captivity !  Our  worship  had  been  outward, 
formal,  cold ;  a  thing  of  duty,  not  of  sincerity ;  an 
affair,  shall  I  say,  of  luxury  rather  than  of  need?  But 
now  we  have  found  out  what  the  mercy-seat  means, 
and  know  that  prayer  is  the  surest  and  the  sweetest 
solace  in  the  hour  of  perplexity.  This  is  God's  "  end 
and  expectation  "  in  our  captivity ;  and  when  that  is 
realized  is  there  one  among  us  who  would  affirm  that 
the  result  is  not  worth  the  price  ?  By  such  experi- 
ences it  is  that  Christians  are  made  ;  and  if  we  would 
be  great  in  holiness,  we  must  lay  our  account  with  the 
discipline  through  which  alone  that  greatness  can  be 
given.  Nor  must  we  imagine  that  God  is  changed 
toward  us  while  thus  he  is  dealing  with  us.  In  all 
and  through  all  he  is  working  for  our  good,  that  at 
the  last  he  may  present  us  to  himself  without  spot 
or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing ;  and  whensoever  we  are 
ajDt  to  suspect  him  he  falls  back  upon  his  own  con- 
scious love  to  us  and  says,  "  I  know  the  thoughts  that 
I  think  toward  you,  thoughts  of  peace,  and  not  of  evil, 
to  give  you  an  expected  end." 

III.  But  now  we  must  not  forget  to  add,  in  the 
third  place,  that  if  we  would  have  such  results  from 
our    captivity,    there    are   certain  important   things 


CAPTIVITIES  AND   HOW  TO   IMPROVE   THEM.  59 

wliicli  we  must  cultivate.  "What  these  are  will  appear 
if  we  look  narrowly  at  the  verses  which  form  my  text, 
and  at  those  by  which  they  are  immediately  pre- 
ceded : 

I  mention  first  among  them  a  willing  acceptance 
of  God's  discipline,  and  patient  submission  to  it.  It 
would  seem  that  before  the  date  of  Jeremiah's  letter 
there  were  among  the  captives  certain  persons  claim- 
ing to  be  prophets  or  diviners  who  were  seeking  to 
incite  them  to  revolt  against  their  conqueror,  and 
promising  that  thereby  they  would  have  a  speedy 
return  to  Jerusalem ;  but  Jeremiah  endeavored  to 
impress  upon  them  that  the  shortest  way  to  their 
deliverance  lay  through  a  contented  accommodation  of 
themselves  to  their  new  circumstances,  and  a  patient 
endurance  of  their  trials.  So  he  says  to  them,  Make 
the  best  of  your  position — "  Build  ye  houses  and  dwell 
in  them ;  and  plant  gardens  and  eat  the  fruit  of  them  "  ; 
and,  so  far  from  hatching  schemes  of  rebellion,  "  Seek 
the  peace  of  the  city  whither  I  have  caused  you  to  be 
carried  away  captives  and  pray  unto  the  Lord  for 
it ;  for  in  the  peace  thereof  shall  ye  have  peace." 

Now,  in  the  same  way,  if  we  are  to  receive  benefit 
from  our  captivity  we  must  accept  the  situation  and 
turn  it  to  the  best  possible  account.  Fretting  over 
that  from  which  we  have  been  removed,  or  which 
has  been  taken  away  from  us,  will  not  make  things 
better,  but  it  will  prevent  us  from  improving  those 
which  remain.  The  bond  is  only  tightened  by  our 
stretching  it  to  the  uttermost.  The  impatient  horse 
which  will  not  quietly  endure  his  halter  only  strangles 
himself  in  his  stall.  The  high-mettled  animal  that  is 
restive  in  the  yoke  only  galls  his  shoulders  ;  and  every 
one  will  understand  the  difference  between  the  rest- 
less starling  of  which  Sterne  has  written,  breaking  its 


60  CAPTIVITIES  AND   HOW  TO  BIPEOVE   THEM. 

wings  against  the  bars  of  its  cage,  and  crying,  "  I  can't 
get  out,"  "I  can't  get  out,"  and  the  docile  canary  that 
sits  upon  its  perch  and  sings  as  if  he  would  outrival 
the  lark  soaring  to  heaven's  gate,  and  so  moves  his 
mistress  to  open  the  door  of  his  prison-house  and  give 
him  the  full  range  of  the  room.  He  who  is  constantly 
looking  back  and  bewailing  that  which  he  has  lost, 
does  only  thereby  unfit  himself  for  improving  in  any 
way  the  discipline  to  which  God  has  subjected  him ; 
whereas  the  man  who  brings  his  mind  dow^n  to  his 
lower  lot,  and  deliberately  examines  how  he  can  serve 
God  best  in  that,  is  already  on  the  way  to  happiness 
and  to  restoration.  This  is  a  most  important  con- 
sideration, and  it  may,  perhaps,  help  to  explain  why 
similar  trials  have  had  such  different  results  in 
different  persons.  One  has  been  bemoaning  that  it 
was  not  with  him  as  in  months  past ;  while  the  other 
has  been  discovering  that  some  talents  have  been  left 
him  still,  and  has  been  laying  these  out  for  his  Lord. 
One  has  been  saying,  "If  I  had  only  the  resources 
which  I  once  possessed  I  could  have  done  something, 
but,  alas  !  they  have  gone  "  ;  the  other  has  been  solilo- 
quizing thus  :  "  I  can  at  least  do  this,  and  if  I  put  it 
into  the  hand  of  Christ,  little  as  it  is,  he  can  make  it 
great "  ;  and  so  we  account  for  the  misery  and  useless- 
ness  of  the  one,  and  the  happiness  and  usefulness  of  the 
other.  Nor  will  it  do  to  say  that  this  difference 
is  only  a  thing  of  temperament.  It  is  a  thing  of  faith. 
The  one  recognizes  the  hand  of  God  as  a  loving  father 
in  his  affliction ;  the  other  sees  nothing  but  his  own 
calamity,  and  that  only  increases  his  affliction  in  the 
end. 

Thus,  paradoxical  as  it  may  appear,  acquiescence 
in  adversity  is  the  best  way  out  of  it;  for  he  who 
accepts  the  situation  and  begins  on  the  lower  level 


CAPTIVITIES  AND  HOW  TO  IMPROVE  THEM.     61 

to  do  liis  best  has  already  stepped  on  tlie  first  round 
in  the  ladder  up  which  he  is  to  ascend  to  a  renewal 
of  prosperity.  This  is  true,  as  every  one  will  admit, 
in  temporal  things,  but  it  is  no  less  true  in  spiritual 
matters,  for  not  until  we  have  forgiven  God  for  the 
wrong  which  we  imagine  he  has  done  us,  or  rather 
not  until  we  have  come  to  see  that  there  was  no 
wrong  in  his  discipline,  can  we  receive  the  full  meas- 
ure of  the  blessing  which  he  desires  to  bestow  upon  us. 
But  the  second  thing  to  be  cultivated  by  us,  if  we 
would  secure  the  full  benefit  of  the  trial,  is  unswerv- 
ing confidence  in  God.  If  we  doubt  him  we  at  once 
become  the  prey  to  despondency,  impatience,  and  re- 
bellion. We  are  ready  then  to  take  counsel  of  false 
prophets  and  diviners,  and  to  open  our  hearts  to 
every  kind  of  evil.  But  so  long  as  we  hold  fast  our 
faith  in  him,  everything  that  comes  upon  us  will  in 
the  end  only  minister  to  our  spiritual  growth.  "  He 
that  belie veth  shall  not  make  haste  ;  "  and  the  man 
who  has  the  fullest  persuasion  that  the  providence 
of  God  is  universal,  including  everything  in  his  lot, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  is  directed  to  a  special  end, 
namely,  the  greatest  good  of  those  who  truly  love 
him,  will  "  hold  still,"  no  matter  what  may  come  upon 
him.  Thus  this  unfaltering  trust  in  God  is  intimately 
connected  with  the  willing  acceptance  of  our  captivity, 
to  which  I  have  just  alluded,  and  so  it  comes  to  be 
closely  allied  also  with  that  progress  in  holiness 
which  it  is  the  great  design  of  our  afflictions  to  pro- 
mote. And  why  should  we  not  trust  God  ?  He  has 
given  us  his  word,  and  that  ought  to  be  enough  ;  but, 
as  if  in  accommodation  to  our  weakness,  he  has 
confirmed  that  promise  by  his  oath,  and  has  at  the 
same  time  opened  up  a  way,  through  the  cross  of  his 
own   Son,  by  which   he   may   righteously   keep    his 


62  CAPTIVITIES  AND   HOW  TO  IMPROVE  THEM. 

pledge.  So  we  liave  no  ground  for  suspecting  liim  ; 
and  if  we  do  distrust  liim,  we  can  have  no  better  re- 
assurance of  liis  faithfulness  than  that  which  this 
verse  affords :  "  I  know  the  thoughts  that  I  think 
toward  you,  thoughts  of  peace  and  not  of  evil,  to 
give  you  an  expected  end."  Brethren,  ponder  well 
these  words.  They  are  unique  even  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  and  they  have  a  comforting  influence  such 
as  few  other  passages  possess.  Years  ago  they  came 
to  my  own  heart  with  peculiar  power,  and  the  Bible 
now  would  scarcely  be  the  same  book  to  me  if  I  could 
not  find  them  in  it,  and  fall  back  upon  the  assurance 
they  give.  They  are  almost  like  a  soliloquy  of  Je- 
hovah, in  which  he  comforts  himself,  under  the  sus- 
picions and  accusations  of  his  wavering  people,  by 
the  consciousness  of  his  own  loving  purposes.  As  if 
he  had  said,  "You  may  think  of  me  as  you  please ; 
you  may  utter  hard  things  against  me,  and  accuse  me 
of  having  a  controversy  with  you ;  but  no  matter.  I 
know  all  that  is  false,  I  know  the  thoughts  that  I 
think  toward  you,  and  whatever  you  may  allege  to  the 
contrary,  they  are  thoughts  of  peace  and  not  of  evil, 
to  give  you  an  expected  end."  Now,  may  it  not  be 
with  some  of  us  that  we  have  failed  to  receive  the 
full  benefit  of  trial  just  because  we  have  been  mis- 
judging God  ?  Confidence  in  your  physician  is  itself 
more  than  half  the  cure,  and  trust  in  God  is  abso- 
lutely essential  if  we  would  gain  benefit  from  his  dis- 
cipline. Yet  because  a  change  in  men's  conduct  toward 
us  is  usually  the  indication  of  a  difference  in  their  dis- 
position toward  us,  we  think  that  God  has  ceased  to 
care  for  us  when  he  puts  us  into  trial  or  sends  us  into 
captivity.  But  it  is  not  so.  To-day  the  medical  man 
gives  his  patient  liberty  to  take  anything  he  chooses ; 
to-morrow  he  cuts  off  all  indulgence,  and  uses  severe 


CAPTIVITIES  AND   HOW  TO  IMPROVE  THEM.  63 

and  painful  remedies  ;  but  does  lie  care  the  less  for 
him  because  he  thus  changes  his  treatment,  or  has  his 
purpose  regarding  him  undergone  an  alteration  ?  Not 
at  all.  In  both  cases  he  is  equally  earnest  to  have 
his  health  restored.  And  it  is  quite  similar  with  God 
in  his  dealings  with  his  people.  He  is  not  an 
amiably  indulgent  father,  giving  his  children  what- 
ever they  ask  just  because  they  desire  it ;  but  he  is 
a  wise  and  judicious  educator,  who  gives  or  denies 
according  as  he  sees  it  will  promote  the  training  of 
his  pupils  for  the  higher  life  of  heaven.  So  let  us 
trust  him,  and  beneath  every  other  sentiment  of  our 
souls  let  there  be  that  of  humble  submission  to  his 
will,  not  because  it  is  inevitable,  but  because  it  is  for 
our  good. 

The  last  thing  needed  by  us  if  we  would  derive  the 
full  benefit  from  our  captivity  is  fervent  prayer.  Hear 
these  words,  "  Then  shall  ye  call  upon  me,  and  ye  shall 
go  and  pray  unto  me,  and  I  will  hearken  unto  you, 
and  ye  shall  seek  me  and  find  me,  when  ye  shall  search 
for  me  with  all  your  heart."  Now,  as  I  have  already 
said,  this  was  all  fulfilled  in  the  case  of  the  captive 
Jews.  They  did  seek  God  with  all  their  hearts,  and 
they  did  enjoy  the  blessing  promised  them  by  the 
mouth  of  Ezekiel,  in  that  chapter  of  his  book  that 
is  such  a  wonderful  anticipation  of  the  Gospel.  It  is 
noteworthy,  also,  that  out  of  the  songs  in  the  Psalter 
which  are  not  the  production  of  David,  a  large  pro- 
portion belongs  to  the  age  of  the  captivity.  The  peo- 
ple thus  did  turn  to  God,  and  he  ivas  found  of  them 
because  they  sought  him  with  the  greatest  earnest- 
ness. So  let  us  make  our  captivities,  whatever  they 
may  be,  the  occasions  of  new  jjrayers.  Let  us  take 
them  to  God,  not  in  a  formal  and  superficial  manner, 
but  really  and  sincerely,  emptying  our  hearts  before 


64  CAPTIVITIES  AND   HOW  TO  QIPEOVE  THEM. 

liim,  and  pleading  his  promises  even  as  Daniel  took 
Jeremiah's  prophecy  which  we  have  to-day  been  con- 
sidering :  and  who  can  tell  but  he  will  give  us  not  only 
the  relief  we  seek,  but  also  such  revelations  of  his 
grace  and  goodness  as  shall  correspond  to  the  vision 
of  the  seventy  heptades  with  which  the  Babylonian 
prime  minister  was  blessed  ?  No  calamity  can  be  to 
us  an  unmixed  evil  if  we  carry  it  in  direct  and  fervent 
prayer  to  God,  for  even  as  one  in  taking  shelter  from 
the  rain  beneath  a  tree  may  find  on  its  branches  fruit 
which  he  looked  not  for,  so  we,  in  fleeing  for  refuge 
beneath  the  shadow  of  God's  wing,  will  always  find 
more  in  God  than  we  had  seen  or  known  before.  It 
is  thus  through  our  afflictions  that  God  gives  us  fresh 
revelations  of  himself ;  and  the  Jabbok  ford,  which 
we  crossed  to  seek  his  help,  leads  to  the  Peniel, 
where,  as  the  result  of  our  wrestling,  we  "see  God 
face  to  face,"  and  our  lives  are  preserved. 

I  cannot  but  feel  that  these  truths  are  designed  for 
some  one  here  to-day.  I  came  from  the  country  with 
quite  another  sermon  for  this  morning's  service.  But 
after  I  reached  my  home  this  discourse  came  to  me, 
and  would  write  itself,  whether  I  would  or  not.  So  I 
know  it  is  meant  for  some  one,  though  I  know  not  who 
he  is.  I  draw  the  bow  at  a  venture,  but  as  I  do  so  the 
hands  of  the  Master,  unseen,  are  over  mine,  and  the 
arrow,  which  to-day  is  one  of  deliverance  and  not  of 
destruction,  will  surely  find  its  mark.  Take  it  to  thy- 
self, O  captive,  and  he  will  give  thee  "  songs  for  sigh- 
ing," and  turn  for  thee  "  the  shadow  of  death  into 
the  morning." 

June  9,  1878 


PERSONAL   mDEPENDENCE  THE   RE- 
SULT  OF  DIVmE   REDEMPTION. 

1  Cor.  vii.  23. — Ye  are  bought  witli  a  price  ;  be  not  ye  the  servants 

of  men. 

The  first  Gentile  converts  to  Cliristianitj  had  to 
confront  many  perplexing  problems  arising  out  of 
their  relationship  to  those  who  remained  heathens, 
and  their  daily  contact,  in  one  way  or  another,  with 
the  institutions  of  paganism  and  the  enactments  of 
imperialism.  It  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  in 
their  difiiculty  as  to  what  they  should  do  in  certain 
matters,  the  members  of  the  church  of  Corinth  had 
applied  for  advice  to  the  Apostle  Paul ;  and  the  coun- 
sels which  he  gave  to  them  were,  as  indeed  might 
have  been  expected,  pre-eminently  wise.  One  of  the 
things  concerning  which  they  had  specially  desired  his 
guidance  was  marriage,  and  the  chapter  from  which 
my  text  is  taken  is  almost  exclusively  devoted  to  that 
subject.  It  is  remarkable  at  once  for  the  broad  prin- 
ciples which  it  lays  down,  and  for  the  recognition 
which  it  gives  to  the  modifying  influence  of  excep- 
tional circumstances.  Indeed,  so  largely  does  this 
last  element  enter  into  the  discussion  of  the  subject, 
that,  unless  we  take  into  account  what  Paul  has  else- 
where written  on  the  dignity  and  importance  of  the 
married  relationship,  we  might  be  apt,  from  the  pe- 
rusal of  this  chajDter  alone,  to  take  away  an  entirely 
erroneous  impression  respecting  his  views.     But  we 


66  PERSONAL   INDEPENDENCE 

have  to  remember  that  mucli  that  he  has  here  ad- 
vanced was  for  a  then  "  present  necessity,"  and  with 
that  thought  in  mind  it  is  not  difficult  to  distinguish 
between  the  great  abiding  jDrinciples  which  he  lays 
down  for  all  time,  and  the  hints  which  he  has  given 
to  guide  his  correspondents  through  a  temporary 
difficulty.  He  affirms  that,  in  their  circumstances,  at 
the  time,  celibacy  would  be  the  prudent  course  for 
the  Corinthian  believers  ;  yet  he  declares  that  he  was 
not  authorized  to  issue  to  them  any  command  to  that 
effect.  Each  must  judge  for  himself,  and  act  accord- 
ingly ;  and  they  might  all  have  the  comfort  of  the 
thought  that,  whether  they  married  or  not,  there  was 
no  sin  in  taking  either  alternative.  Only,  if  they  did 
marry,  he  would  remind  them  that,  by  the  law  of  God, 
the  tie  between  husband  and  wife  was  for  life,  and 
was  not  to  be  broken,  save  for  the  one  great  reason 
which  the  Lord  Jesus  specified.  He  affirms  also  that 
if  for  any  other  cause  husband  and  wife  should  sepa- 
rate, it  was  the  duty  of  both  to  remain  single,  and 
make  no  other  connection.  How  different  all  that  is 
from  the  divorce  laws  in  some  of  our  States,  and  how 
much  these  laws  are  doing  to  poison  family  happi- 
ness, and  degrade  public  morality,  I  will  not  now 
pause  to  point  out.  I  will  only  say  that  while  such 
laws  remain  unrepealed  the  States  in  which  they 
exist  have  too  much  glass  in  the  walls  of  their  own 
houses  to  make  it  safe  for  them  to  throw  stones  at 
the  Mormons. 

Another  question  which  emerged  from  the  circum- 
stances in  which  some  of  the  Corinthians  found  them- 
selves was  this  :  What  was  to  be  done  in  cases  where 
the  wife  had  become  a  Christian,  while  the  husband 
continued  to  be  an  idolater?  or  where  the  husband 
was  converted,  while  the  wife  remained  a  j)agan? 


THE  EESULT  OF  DIVINE  REDEMPTION.  67 

And  to  that  Paul's  reply  was  tliat  even  in  such  in- 
stances the  indissolubleness  of  the  marriage  tie  re- 
mained, and  that  the  believing  partner  was  to  continue 
in  the  relationship.  If  the  unbelieving  wife  did  not 
object  to  dwell  with  a  believing  husband,  he  was  not 
to  put  her  away,  and  if  the  unbelieving  husband  did  not 
refuse  to  dwell  with  a  believing  wife,  she  was  not  to 
think  of  leaving  him.  If  a  separation  came,  it  was 
not  to  be  the  act  of  the  believer.  But  if  the  unbe- 
lieving party  to  the  contract  broke  it,  of  his  own 
motive,  by  wilful  desertion,  for  no  other  reason  than 
the  Christianity  of  the  other,  then  the  clear  statement 
is  made,  "  a  brother  or  a  sister  is  not  in  bondage  in 
such  cases."  And  the  ground  on  which  this  advice  is 
given  by  Paul  is  the  same  as  that  suggested  by  Peter 
in  dealing  with  the  same  question.  The  apostle  of 
the  circumcision  thus  writes  :  "  Likewise,  ye  wives, 
be  in  subjection  to  your  own  husbands ;  that  if  any 
obey  not  the  word,  they  also  may,  without  a  word,  be 
won  by  the  conversation  of  the  wives  "  ;  and  in  a  sim- 
ilar strain  Paul  says  here,  "  What  knowest  thou,  O 
wife,  whether  thou  shalt  save  thy  husband  ?  or  how 
knowest  thou,  O  man,  whether  thou  shalt  save  thy 
wife  ?  " 

The  apostle,  you  observe,  says  nothing  what- 
ever here  about,  and  gives  no  encouragement  to,  the 
deliberate  choice  by  a  believer  of  an  unbelieving  part- 
ner ;  but  when,  both  having  been  unbelievers,  the 
husband  or  the  wife  should  be  converted  while  the 
other  remains  as  before,  his  unequivocal  advice  is 
that  the  believer  should  continue  the  relationship, 
and  make  the  best  of  its  opportunities  for  Christ ;  and 
in  reference  to  all  similar  questions  of  what  may  be 
termed  casuistry  in  a  good  sense  his  great  law  is, 
"  Let  every  man  abide  in  the  same  calling  wherein  he 


68  PEESONAL    INDEPENDENCE 

is  called."  His  first  duty  is  to  sanctify  that,  and 
through  the  performance  of  that  duty  God  will  open 
to  him  a  higher  opportunity.  This  law  he  applies, 
first,  ecclesiastically,  to  the  questions  between  Jew 
and  Gentile,  and  affirms  that  it  is  not  necessary  for 
the  Jew  to  abjure  his  Jewish  customs  when  he  be- 
comes a  Christian  any  more  than  it  is  for  the  Gentile 
to  become  a  Jew  in  order  to  be  a  thorough  follower 
of  Christ.  Then,  advancing  to  ground  that  was  still 
more  delicate,  he  shows  its  bearing,  socially,  in  regard 
to  slavery,  saying,  "  Art  thou  called,  being  a  slave,  care 
not  for  it  ?  but  if  thou  mayest  be  made  free,  use  it 
rather."  Do  not,  as  if  he  had  said,  by  any  violent  or 
dishonorable  means  seek  to  regain  your  freedom  ;  but 
let  your  solace  in  your  bondage  be,  that  the  Christian 
is  the  Lord's  freeman.  Still,  do  not  despise  liberty, 
for  in  itself  that  is  better  than  slavery.  If,  therefore, 
you  can  peacefully  and  Christianly  secure  your  free- 
dom, thankfully  embrace  it,  and  let  your  spiritual 
ballast  be  in  the  reflection  that  the  believing  freeman 
is  the  slave  of  Christ. 

Thus  the  apostle  clearly  indicates  that  Christian- 
ity is  a  regenerating  force  for  the  individual,  and 
only  through  that  a  reformer  of  society.  It  was 
not  to  create  a  sudden  revolution  that  should  over- 
turn everything  as  with  the  shock  of  a  devastating 
earthquake ;  but  it  was  to  bring  on  a  gradual  change, 
working  like  the  leaven  in  the  meal  on  individual 
particle  after  particle,  until  the  whole  mass  should 
be  leavened.  "  God  hath  called  us  to  peace  "  was 
the  ajDostle's  watchword  in  all  such  matters ;  and 
any  one  who  knows  the  social  condition  of  the  Koman 
Empire  when  he  wrote  this  letter,  and  thinks  on  the 
influence  of  his  words  on  that,  and  on  the  countries 
into  which,  in  after  times,  the  gospel  has  been  intro- 


THE  BESULT  OF  DIVINE  REDEMPTION.  69 

ducecl,  will  be  forward  to  admit  that  they  were  not 
only  admirably  judicious,  but  eminently  far-seeing. 

All  this  I  have  said,  not  only  that  I  may  lay  bare  to 
you  the  intellectual  and  s]3iritual  strata  in  which  the 
words  of  my  text  lie  ;  but  also  that  I  may  bring  up 
before  you  principles  of  social  and  civil  economics 
which  are  far  too  frequently  lost  sight  of  in  these 
days.  We  are  so  impetuous  in  our  eagerness  to  gain 
certain  ends  that  we  take  what  seems  to  us  the  short- 
est way,  though  that  may  lie  through  strife  and  misery. 
But  "  he  that  believeth  shall  not  make  '  such '  haste." 
He  Avill  abide  in  his  calling  and  serve  God  there,  wait- 
ing for  results.  These  may  not  come  at  once,  but  they 
will  come,  and  when  they  do  they  will  prove  by  their 
wholesomeness  and  their  permanence  that  they  were 
worth  waiting  for. 

Now,  it  is  in  connection  with  the  commanded  prefer- 
ence of  freedom  to  slavery,  when  that  can  be  secured, 
that  Paul  says,  "  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price  ;  be  not 
ye  the  servants  of  men  "  ;  as  if  he  would  have  put  it 
thus  :  use  freedom  rather  than  slavery,  for  Christ  has 
bought  you,  and  it  is  well  to  keep  yourselves  for  his 
divine  ownership.  But  the  words  thus  appropriate  to 
Paul's  primary  purpose  have  a  much  wider  range 
than  that  here  given  to  them,  and  the  longer  one 
thinks  on  them  the  more  significant  they  become. 
They  suggest  the  truth  that  spiritual  redemption  is 
the  root  of  personal  independence  ;  and  to  the  eluci- 
dation of  that — opposed  as  it  is  to  many  modern 
notions  about  Christianity — I  shall  devote  the  remain- 
der of  my  discourse. 

First,  let  us  look  at  the  assertion  "  Ye  are  bought 
with  a  price."  This  is  one  of  the  ways  in  which, 
in  Scripture,  the   great   effect  of  Christ's   death   in 


70  PERSONAL   INDEPENDENCE 

tlie  room  of  sinners  is  described.  Tliat  wliicli,  in 
modern  theological  phraseology,  we  have  called  the 
atonement,  is  spoken  of  in  the  word  of  God  in 
four    different,   yet   not   inconsistent,    aspects.     It  is 

/  called  a  sacrifice,  as  when  Christ  is  said  to  have  borne 
our  sins  ;*  and  is  designated  by  the  Baptist  as  "  the 
Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world."t 

'■^  It  is  styled  a  redemption,  as  when  Paul  says,  "In 
Christ  we  have  redemption,  through  his  blood,  even 
the  forgiveness  of  sins,  "%  and  when  the  Lord  himself 
affirms  that  "  the  Son  of  man  came  to  give  his  life  a 
ransom  for  many."§  It  is  characterized,  as  a  declara- 
tion of  God's  righteousness  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
that  "  He  might  be  just  and  yet  the  Justifier  of  him 
that  believeth  "  ;l|  and  the  same  phasis  of  it  is  presented 
to  us  when  the  apostle  alleges  that  IT"  it  pleased  the 
Father,  having  made  peace  by  the  blood  of  his  cross, 
by  him  to  reconcile  all  things  unto  himself,"  for  the 
making  of  peace  by  the  blood  of  the  cross  was  some- 
thing prior  to  and  in  order  to  the  effecting  of  the  re- 
conciliation, and  must,  therefore,  be  equivalent  to  the 
declaration  of  righteousness  whereby  he  is  just  and 
yet  the  Justifier  of  the  believer.  And  finally,  it  is  all 
traced  up  to  the  love  of  God,  "  "Who  gave  his  only  be- 
gotten Son  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  might 
notj^erish  but  have  everlasting  life. "*'^^  Thus  the  death 
of  Christ  did  not  j)urchase  God's  love  for  sinners, 
but  manifested  that  love,  and  opened  for  it  a  right- 
eous channel  through  which  it  might  flow  to  guilty 
men. 


*  1  Peter  ii.  24.  §  Matthew  xx. 

t  John  i.  29.  |  Rom.  iii.  26 

X  Eph.  i.  7  ;  Col.  i.  14.  IT  Col.  i.  20. 

**  John  iii.  16. 


THE  RESULT  OF  DIVINE  REDEMPTION.  71 

Now,  the  mere  fact  tliat  this  vast  subject  is  presented 
to  us  in  so  many  different  ways  is  a  proof  that  no  one 
mode  of  speech  can  fully  describe  its  character ;  and 
the  great  source  of  the  discussions  which  have  been 
held  regarding  it  is  that  each  of  the  disputants  has 
adopted  one  of  these  statements  concerning  it,  as  if 
that  contained  the  whole  truth  about  it  and  involved 
in  it  the  negation  of  all  the  rest.  But  the  true  induc- 
tive spirit  is  that  which  accepts  all  the  four,  and  main- 
tains that  the  atonement  is  the  great  whole  which  holds 
them  all  in  harmony.  Christ's  death  was  the  mani- 
festation of  God's  love,  in  the  provision  of  an  all-suffi- 
cient sacrifice  for  human  sin,  whereby  his  righteous- 
ness is  declared  in  the  forgiveness  and  salvation  of  be- 
lieving men — usually  called  their  redemption.  In  this 
way  of  putting  the  matter,  the  redemption  will  de- 
scribe the  result  in  the  case  of  believers  of  their 
acceptance  of  Christ  as  their  sacrifice  ;  and  that  is 
borne  out  by  the  use  of  the  word  in  many  passages  of 
Scripture.  For  in  one  place  we  have  "  waiting  for  the 
adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of  the  body  ; "  and 
again,  believers  are  said  to  be  "sealed  until  the 
day  of  redemption "  ;  while  more  than  once  we  have 
"redemption"  identified  with  "the  forgiveness  of 
sins."  The  Redeemer  is  Jesus  Christ,  the  price  is 
his  precious  blood,  and  the  redemption  is  the  re- 
sult of  his  payment  of  that  price  in  his  abso- 
lute ownership  of  those  whom  he  has  thus  pur- 
chased. This  ownership  involves  on  his  part  the  be- 
stowment  of  pardon  and  salvation  upon  them,  and  on 
theirs  the  giving  up  of  everything  which  is  incon- 
sistent with  his  service  according  to  Peter's  words, 
"  Ye  know  that  ye  were  not  redeemed  with  corruptible 
things  as  silver  and  gold,  from  your  vain  conversation 
received  by  tradition  fi'om  your  fathers ;   but  with 


72  PEESONAL   INDEPENDENCE 

the  precious  blood  of  Christ ;  "*  and  tliat  exliortation 
of  Paul,  "Ye  are  bought  with  a  price,  therefore  glorify 
God  in  your  bodies  and  your  spirits  which  are  God's."t 
The  language,  of  course,  is  figurative,  and  if,  in  the 
case  of  an  ordinary  analogy,  it  is  not  possible,  as 
Macaulay  says,  to  make  it  go  on  all  fours  and  run  it 
out  into  every  little  detail,  we  may  be  sure  that  any 
such  attempt  is  hoj)eless  here.  It  was  in  seeking  to 
do  that,  as  is  well  known,  that  the  theologians  of  the 
Middle  Ages — and  even  some  of  the  post-Reformation 
era — fell  into  the  atrocious  absurdity  of  affirming  that 
the  redemption  price  of  Christ's  blood  was  paid  to 
Satan,  because  sinners  are  held  captive  by  him  at  his 
will.  So  we  must  be  warned  by  their  example,  and  walk 
warily.  The  following  things,  however,  seem  to  me  to 
be  clear,  namely :  that  the  price  is  the  blood  of  Christ ; 
and  that  the  effect  of  the  payment  of  that  price  is  that 
believers  belong  body,  soul,  and  spirit  to  Christ  as  his 
purchased  property  or  possession ;  while  the  act 
of  payment  appears  to  me  to  be  equivalent  to  that 
"making  peace  by  the  blood"  which  Paul  has  spoken 
of  as  a  declaration  or  manifestation  of  righteousness 
made  by  God  in  the  setting  of  "Christ  forth  as  a  propi- 
tiation for  the  forgiveness  of  sins  through  faith  in  his 
blood.  But  in  the  words  of  my  text,  the  apostle, 
without  caring  to  press  the  analogy  so  far  as  to  specify 
to  whom  or  why  the  price  was  paid,  gives  prominence 
to  the  result  in  the  case  of  believers — "Ye  are 
bought";  or,  as  he  has  elsewhere  put  it,  "Ye  are  not 
your  own  " — you  belong,  by  right  of  his  purchase,  to 
Christ ;  your  intellects  are  his  to  be  instructed  by 
him  ;  your  consciences  are  his  to  be  regulated  by 
him ;  your  lives   are   his   to  be   ruled  by  him,   ab- 

*  1  Peter  i.  18.  f  1  Cor.  vi.  20. 


THE  EESULT  OF  DIYINE  REDEMPTION.  73 

solutely  and  entirely  you  are  his.  Now  at  first  sight 
that  reads  like  a  consignment  of  us  to  the  most  abject 
slavery  ;  for  no  human  oppression  can  thoroughly  en- 
chain the  spirit.  But  here  it  must  be  remembered  that 
what  on  the  Lord's  side  is  a  purchase,  is  on  the  be- 
liever's side  a  voluntary  consecration,  and  that  the 
Master  is  not  a  man  but  the  God-man,  with  whom  op- 
pression is  impossible.  Thus  it  comes  about  that  this 
divine  ownership  of  us  by  Jesus  is  the  charter  of  our 
deliverance  from  our  fellow-men,  and  the  paradox  that 
the  service  of  Christ  is  perfect  freedom  is  made  good. 
"  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price  ;  be  not  ye  the  servants 
of  men." 

Now  in  looking  at  this  inference  from  the  fact  of 
our  redemption  by  Christ,  we  must  beware,  on  the 
very  threshold,  lest  we  fall  into  mistake.  Paul  does 
not  mean  to  say  that  all  manner  of  service  of  men  is 
inconsistent  with  our  ownership  by  Christ.  We  have 
only  to  read  his  exhortations  to  servants  in  his  vari- 
ous epistles  to  be  convinced  of  that.  What  he  desires 
to  allege  is  that  Christ's  property  in  us  emancipates 
us  from  abject  slavery  to  men  in  every  form  which 
is  inconsistent  with  that  property.  No  man  can  de- 
prive us  of  that  which  already  belongs  to  Christ; 
and  it  is  through  the  assertion  of  that  principle  by 
Christians  that  all  the  victories  of  religious  freedom 
have  been  won  in  the  world. 

Take,  for  example,  the  slavery  of  the  intellect,  as 
that  was  attempted  to  be  fastened  upon  men  by 
authority  in  matters  of  faith.  You  know  the  degrada- 
tion to  which  popery  reduced  the  people  in  this  depart- 
ment ;  and  you  know,  too,  how  the  yoke  was  broken 
when  Luther  and  his  compeers  in  other  lands  ex- 
alted the  gospel,  and  told  their  hearers  that  it  was 
their  blessed  privilege,  as  Christ's  blood-bought  ones, 


74  PERSONAL   INDEPENDENCE 

to  take  tlieir  belief  from  liim.  For  the  riglit  of  pri- 
vate judgment,  as  they  expounded  it,  was  not  the 
liberty  of  every  man  to  think  as  he  j)leased,  but  the 
inalienable  privilege  of  the  believer  to  take  the 
truth  from  the  lips  of  his  Lord.  And  you  can 
see,  at  once,  how  this  same  principle  delivers  us 
to-day  from  the  yoke  of  party  and  the  dictation  of 
men.  If  I  am  a  redeemed  man,  I  belong  to  Christ, 
and  have  no  master  but  him.  I  refuse,  then,  to  be 
told  by  any  man  what  I  must  believe.  I  refuse  to 
allow  any  man  to  come  between  Christ  and  me  to  in- 
terpret his  words.  I  have  to  do  directly  and  imme- 
diately with  Christ  alone.  What  he  says  to  me  I 
will  accept  simply  because  he  says  it ;  but  I  will  have 
no  interference  from  others,  since  that  is  a  dis- 
honor to  him.  This  is  as  different  from  rational- 
ism, on  the  one  hand,  as  it  is  from  Romanism,  and 
every  other  ism  which  arrogates  to  itself  intolerance 
and  authority,  on  the  other.  Rationalism  repudiates 
Christ,  and  takes  only  what  pleases  itself ;  Roman- 
ism enthrones  a  human  infallibility  which  lays  down 
the  law  as  to  the  interpretation  of  Christ ;  but  the 
consciousness  that'I  am  bought  with  a  price  enthrones 
Christ  over  my  intellect,  and  I  take  my  faith  implic- 
itly and  immediately  from  him.  He  has  purchased 
me  wholly  for  himself,  and  by  that  purchase  he  has 
emancipated  me  from  the  interference  of  men,  for 
now  I  follow  him.  There  may  be  doubt  in  a  man's 
mind  as  to  whether  he  will  accept  Christ's  redemp- 
tion or  not;  and  after  he  has  accepted  redemp- 
tion, there  may  be  doubt  in  his  mind  as  to  the  mean- 
ing of  some  of  Christ's  sayings  ;  but  when  he  has 
accepted  Christ  as  his  Saviour,  and  has  come  to 
a  clear  understanding  of  what  Christ  has  affirmed, 
the  redeemed  man  receives  that ;   and  claims,  right- 


THE  RESULT  OF  DIVINE  REDEMPTION.  75 

fully  too,  that  in  receiving  it,  be  shall  not  be 
troubled  with  human  intervention.  That  does  not 
mean  that  if  by  following  this  rule  he  is  led  to  the 
adoption  of  views  inconsistent  with  the  terms  on 
which  he  holds  his  position,  say  as  a  minister  in  a 
church,  he  has  still  a  right  to  hold  that  position.  As 
an  honest  man,  in  such  a  case  he  will  give  up  his 
position,  counting  the  loss  as  nothing  for  the  sake  of 
Christ,  and,  in  doing  that,  he  will  secure  the  resjoect  of 
every  one  ;  whereas  by  taking  the  opposite  course  he 
will  forfeit  the  confidence  of  all  who  love  righteous- 
ness ;  and  if  he  draw  down  upon  himself  remonstrance, 
or  discipline,  or  disfellowship,  he  has  no  more  right 
to  call  out  that  he  is  persecuted  than  one  who  breaks 
a  contract  has  to  complain  of  injustice  when  he  is  ar- 
raigned before  a  court  of  law.  Thus  the  personal  inde- 
pendence in  matters  of  faith  which  is  secured  for  us  by 
our  redemption  is  different  from  rationalism,  which 
repudiates  all  authority  in  religion,  and  from  latitudi- 
narianism,  which  acts  as  if  it  were  quite  a  proper 
thing  for  one  who  has  received  a  position  on  a  cer- 
tain condition,  to  retain  that  position  even  when  tlie 
condition  annexed  to  it  has  been  broken.  And  yet 
this  liberty,  thus  regulated  by  allegiance  to  Christ,  is 
a  very  real  thing,  for  it  keeps  the  man  in  his  own 
proper  orbit,  throwing  off  human  intolerance  on  the 
one  side,  and  accepting  divine  direction  on  the  other. 
If  he  yielded  to  the  one,  there  would  be  slavery  ;  if 
he  abjured  the  other,  there  would  be  license  ;  but 
the  course  he  takes  is  one  of  freedom,  and  the  result 
secured  by  taking  it  differs  as  much  from  latitudi- 
narianism  as  the  Eeformation  from  Popery  differed 
from  the  first  French  Revolution. 

But  leaving  now  the  department  of  the  intellect,  I 
think  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  principle  on  which  I 


76  PERSONAL   ESTDEPENDENCE 

am  now  insisting  leads  directly  and  immediately  to 
liberty  of  conscience.  If  I  am  bouglit  with  a  price, 
then  my  conscience  is  Christ's.  He  alone  is  its  Lord, 
and  I  am  bound  to  hold  it  sacredly  for  him.  That 
is  the  holy  of  holies  of  my  nature,  wherein  none  but 
the  Divine  High  Priest  may  enter ;  and  when  he 
sprinkles  his  blood  of  atonement  there,  he  marks  it 
as  inalienably  his  own.  What  I  solemnly  in  the  light 
of  his  word  and  by  the  illumination  of  his  Spirit  feel  to 
be  my  duty,  that  I  must  do  because  I  am  his,  and  no 
power  is  to  be  allowed  to  coerce  me  into  the  violation 
of  these  sacred  convictions.  This  was  the  principle 
which  the  English  Puritans  maintained ;  and  this  too, 
only  more  as  it  respects  the  church,  j)erhaps,  than  in- 
dividuals, was  the  ground  on  which  the  Scottish  Cove- 
nanters planted  themselves.  It  cost  them  a  great  deal 
to  hold  it ;  but  their  loyalty  to  Christ  gave  them  their 
courage,  and  in  the  end  they  won  their  victory.  Men 
sneer  nowadays  indeed,  when  in  these  old  histories 
they  come  across  the  phrase  "  the  headship  of 
Christ,"  and,  pronouncing  it  with  sniveling  ridicule, 
they  style  it  the  very  essence  of  cant.  But  that 
phrase  was  for  the  men  who  used  it  the  crystallization 
of  the  princij^le  that  is  beneath  Paul's  words  "  ye  are 
bought  with  a  x^i'ice,"  and  when  they  unfurled  their 
banner  it  bore  upon  it  the  strange  unworldly  device 
"for  Christ,  his  Crown,  and  Covenant."  Their  strug- 
gle, therefore,  was  not  like  that  of  Tell  in  Switzerland, 
or  of  Wallace  in  Scotland,  or  of  Washington  and  his 
comrades  in  America,  for  merely  natural  or  national 
rights,  glorious  as  all  these  conflicts  were.  Their 
struggle  was  not  for  any  claim  of  their  own,  but  for 
Christ's  redemptive  right  of  ownership  over  their 
consciences.  They  resisted  unto  blood  because  they 
wished  to  preserve  the  sacred  kingdom  of  their  souls 


THE  RESULT   OF  DIVINE   REDEMPTION.  77 

from  being  polluted  and  profaned  by  otlier  lordship 
or  royalty  tlian  tliat  of  Jesus  ;  and  by  their  effort  to 
secure  that  they  attained  also  to  civil  freedom. 
The  outcome  of  that  conflict  is  seen  to-day,  not  only 
in  the  difference  between  the  Great  Britain  of  the 
present  and  that  of  two  hundred  years  ago  ;  but  also 
here  in  America,  for  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  the  Constitution  of  this  Kepublic,  with  its  recent 
amendments,  are  only  the  expansion  and  development 
of  the  work  which  these  blood-bought  men  began. 
Sneer  now,  if  you  dare,  at  "  the  headship  of  Christ " ! 
or  ask  me  now,  will  you,  if  I  am  not  talking  in  para- 
doxes when  I  speak  of  Christ's  absolute  ownership  of 
his  redeemed  ones  as  the  root  of  personal  independ- 
ence and  well  regulated  freedom  ? 

But,  not  to  mention  other  illustrations  of  this 
principle,  you  may  see  finally  how  it  operates  in 
emancipating  us  from  slavery  to  worldly  fashion,  or  to 
the  public  opinion  of  men.  For  if  we  belong  to 
Christ,  and  if  we  are  only  sure  that  he  would  have  us 
pursue  a  certain  course  of  conduct,  what  does  it  mat- 
ter to  us  what  others  think  or  say  regarding  us  ? 
There  is,  I  know,  such  a  thing  as  a  love  of  singularity 
for  its  own  sake,  or  a  contempt  of  fashion,  even  in 
things  indifferent,  simply  because  it  is  fashion,  or  a 
defiance  of  public  opinion  only  to  insult  it.  But 
Christianity  gives  no  countenance  to  any  of  these 
things.  Paul  in  all  things  non-essential  became 
all  things  to  all  men  that  he  might  by  all  means 
save  some  :  and  we  may  be  very  sure  that  no  princi- 
ples advocated  by  him  would  ever  condemn  such 
conduct  in  others.  But  when  fashion  would  usurp  the 
place  of  Christ,  or  when  we  are  moved  more  by  the 
consideration  of  the  good  will  of  our  fellows  than  we 
are   by  regard  to   the   Master's  word, — then  we  are 


78  PEKSONAL   INDEPENDENCE 

disloyal  to  liim  and  are  robbing  liim  of  that  which 
he  has  purchased  by  his  blood.  Now,  it  is  from  that 
unmanly  deference  to  customs  and  oj)inions,  when 
conscience  says  that  it  is  right  to  ignore  them,  that  the 
sense  of  Christ's  ownership  sets  us  free ;  and  every 
man  who  says  "  no  "  to  those  influences  which  Christ 
has  commanded  him  to  resist  is  as  really  fighting 
for  liberty  as  were  the  "  minute-men  "  in  the  days  of 
the  devolution ;  and  is  as  true  a  hero  as  those  who 
bled  at  Marathon  or  Leuctra.  Aye,  and  if  he  fight 
on  he  may  yet  work  out  emancipation  for  multitudes 
besides  himself.  See  how  much  has  been  accom- 
plished in  this  way  by  our  Christian  Temperance  men. 
They  have  not  only  earned  their  own  freedom — so  that 
now  there  is  nothing  unfashionable  in  their  course — 
but  they  have  made  their  position  such  that  no  one 
needs  be  ashamed  to  take  it,  thereby,  as  I  believe, 
diminishing  temptation  in  many  homes.  Nor  should 
we  forget  others  who  have  wrought  out  like  emanci- 
pation for  their  fellows.  I  never  meet  a  Friend 
with  his  peculiar  dress  and  his  methodical  speech 
without  having  some  admiration  for  the  stand  he  has 
taken.  It  may  be  that  now  that  which  was  in  the  outset 
a  j)rotest  against  formalism  has  itself  become  a  form. 
It  may  be  that  what  was  a  real  voice  in  the  case  of 
George  Fox  and  his  first  disciples  has  too  largely  now 
become  merely  an  echo.  It  may  be  that  there  is  as 
much  pride  to-day  in  wearing  that  quaint  attire  as 
there  was  in  the  fashion  of  the  period  against  which 
it  was  a  protest.  But  still  there  is  a  right  noble 
history  beneath  the  broad-brim.  The  position  of  its 
wearer  was  taken  originally  out  of  regard  to  Christ's 
redemptive  right  over  his  people  ;  and  the  outcome  of 
it  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  in  every  struggle  for  liberty, 
humanity,  education,  and  the  personal  protection  of 


THE   RESULT   OF  DIVINE   REDEMPTION.  79 

the  weak,  you  will  find  a  Quaker  in  the  foreground. 
So  his  personal  independence  was  rooted  in  spiritual 
redemption,  and  bore  its  fruit  in  the  larger  liberty  of 
the  nation.  Ah  !  if  we  were  to  remember  always  that 
we  belong  to  Christ,  from  how  many  dangers  we  should 
be  set  free,  and  how  many  temptations  we  should  then 
overcome  with  ease  !  Take,  then,  this  truth  with  you, 
ye  men  of  business,  into  your  daily  conduct,  and  when 
others  taunt  you  with  being  under  restraint  because, 
as  belonging  to  Christ,  you  cannot  do  what  they  would 
ask,  tell  them  that  you  are  really  battling  for  a  larger 
liberty,  and  that  the  stand  you  make  is,  in  that  aspect 
of  it,  even  more  truly  for  their  advantage  than  would 
be  your  yielding  to  their  desires.  And  you,  ye 
young  men  whose  cry  is  for  liberty ;  whose  aspiration 
is  for  manhood ;  and  whose  watch- word  is  independ- 
ence, learn  here  how  you  can  find  all  three  safely, 
surely  and  permanently  through  the  acceptance  of  the 
redemption  of  Christ.  The  most  absolute  devotion  to 
Christ  is  the  most  complete  declaration  of  individual 
independence  ;  even  as  the  defiant  rejection  of  Christ 
on  the  score  of  liberty  issues  in  the  most  degrading 
form  of  slavery.  These  things  may  seem  to  be  con- 
tradictory, but  they  are  true,  and  they  have  been  often 
demonstrated  to  be  so  in  the  history  alike  of  indi- 
viduals and  of  the  race.  Make  your  choice  between 
them,  and  do  not  let  yourselves  be  beguiled  by  first 
appearances,  for  here,  too,  the  prize  is  in  the  leaden 
casket,  and  the  highest  liberty  is  to  be  found  in  that 
which  is  the  lowliest  service.  Therefore  choose  to 
be  ransomed  by  Christ  that  you  may  be  delivered 
from  servitude  to  men. 

January  9,  1881 


THE    UNTEODDEN  PATH. 

Joshua  iii.  4. — ^Ye  have  not  passed  this  way  heretofore. 

Aftee  their  weary  wilderness  journey  of  forty  years, 
tlie  tribes  of  Israel  had  come  to  the  Jordan,  the  cross- 
ing of  which  was  noAV  the  only  difficulty  that  lay  be- 
tween them  and  the  promised  land.  Strangely  con- 
flicting must  have  been  their  emotions  during  their 
three  days'  encampment  by  the  river  side.  As  they 
looked  back  upon  the  past  thankfulness  would  predomi- 
nate, though  the  absence  of  their  old  men,  and  notably 
that  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  would  tinge  their  gratitude 
with  sadness  ;  as  they  gazed  upon  the  far  landscape, 
and  thought  of  the  time  when  the  fertile  fields  of 
Canaan  would  be  all  their  own,  hope  would  whisper 
to  them  of  the  blessings  which  were  yet  in  store  for 
them ;  but  when  at  length  their  eyes  rested  on  the 
rapid  river  raging  in  autumnal  flood,  as  if  defying 
them  to  joass  over  its  waters,  everything  else  would 
be  forgotten  in  the  immediate  i)eril  that  was  before 
them,  and  the  one  great  absorbing  question  with  them 
all  would  be,  "  What  shall  we  do  in  these  proud  swell- 
ing waves  ?  how  shall  we  ford  that  broad,  deep,  rapid, 
roaring  river  ?  " 

To  meet  that  state  of  heart  among  them,  Joshua 
issued  minute  directions  to  the  host.  He  told  them 
that  the  priests  bearing  the  ark  of  the  covenant  would 
go  before  them,  and  he  commanded  that  they  were  to 
follow  at  the  distance  of  a  thousand  yards,  assuring 
them  that,  as  they  did  so,  the  Lord  himself  would 


THE  UNTRODDEN  PATH.  81 

make  a  passage  for  them.  But  to  ensure  their  care- 
ful attention  to  his  instructions  he  added,  "  Ye  have 
not  passed  this  way  heretofore."  As  if  he  had  put  it 
thus:  "This  is  anew  experience  for  you;  there  has 
been  and  there  can  be  no  opportunity  of  rehearsing 
for  it ;  it  is  the  first  thing  of  its  kind  that  has  come  in 
your  history,  therefore  be  sure  that  you  keep  a  clear, 
open  space  between  you  and  the  ark,  so  that  each  of 
you  may  see  it,  and  may  be  cheered  and  encouraged 
by  the  consciousness  of  the  presence  of  Him  whose 
glory  hovers  ever  symbolically  over  it."  They  had 
become  perfectly  familiar  with  the  order  of  march  in 
the  wilderness,  so  that  each  tribe  could  now  almost 
mechanically  take  its  place  ;  and  elevated  as  the  pillar 
of  cloud  and  fire  was,  they  could  all  see  that  with 
ease,  whether  they  were  near  to  it  or  far  away  from 
it ;  but,  in  this  instance,  the  ark  was  to  be  the  means 
of  their  deliverance,  and,  borne  as  that  was  upon 
men's  shoulders,  if  they  followed  close  upon  it  only 
those  in  the  few  foremost  ranks  would  be  able  to  get 
a  glimpse  of  it.  Hence  that  it  might  be  fully  in  the 
view  of  all,  an  open  space  of  two  thousand  cubits  was 
to  be  reserved  between  it  and  the  crossing  host.  Had 
they  been  well  acquainted  with  the  matter,  had  it  been 
the  second  or  third  time  in  their  experience  that  they 
had  crossed  a  river  thus,  there  would  have  been  less 
need  to  give  such  particular  admonition,  but  as  they 
were  to  be  in  circumstances  entirely  new  to  them,  as 
they  were  to  pass  over  an  untrodden  path,  peculiar 
care  was  requisite.  The  event  justified  the  assurance 
of  Joshua,  for,  when  the  feet  of  the  priests  touched 
the  water,  the  river  stood  still,  and  when  the  people 
reached  the  other  shore  they  raised  a  memorial  with 
stones  taken  from  the  bed  of  the  Jordan  to  attest  to 
future  generations  the  goodness  of  their  covenant  God. 
4* 


82  THE  UNTRODDEN  PATH. 

Now  from  this  memorable  incident  in  Israel's  his- 
tory we  may  deduce  a  general  princij)le  wliich  will  be 
very  helpful  to  ourselves.  The  crossing  of  the  Jordan 
may  stand  for  any  new  experience  of  peculiar  uncer- 
tainty through  which  a  man  is  required  to  pass  ;  the 
ark  of  the  covenant,  with  its  mystic  symbol  of  God's 
presence  hovering  over  the  blood-stained  mercy-seat, 
may  be  taken  as  representing  God's  presence  with  his 
people,  as  reconciled  to  them  through  Jesus  Christ ; 
and  the  direction  to  keep  the  ark  in  view  while  cross- 
ing the  river,  may  for  modern  life,  be  formulated  into 
the  maxim  that  in  all  new  and  untried  circumstances 
our  true  safeguard  is  to  let  nothing  come  between  us 
and  the  perception  of  the  truth  that  God  is  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  to  himself,  and  guiding  his 
people  to  safety  and  immortal  blessedness.  Frequent- 
ly, in  the  course  of  a  man's  life,  he  is  brought  to  a 
standstill  before  some  new  difficulty  of  wliich  till 
then  he  has  had  no  experience.  Things  which  he  has 
to  do  or  suffer  every  day  become  familiar  to  him,  and 
he  acquires  a  facility  in  reference  to  them ;  but  when 
he  has  some  duty  to  discharge  of  a  delicate  and  im- 
portant character,  and  like  to  nothing  that  he  has 
ever  had  before,  or  when  he  has  a  trial  to  bear  which 
is  different  from  every  other  which  he  has  been  called 
to  endure  in  the  past,  there  comes  a  time  of  thought- 
ful pause,  like  those  three  days  spent  by  the  Israelites 
on  the  bank  of  the  Jordan,  during  which  he  asks  him- 
self how  he  is  to  discharge  the  duty  or  to  endure  the 
cross.  Now  at  such  an  emergency  here  is  the  answer 
that  is  given  by  this  ancient  story :  Put  the  ark  of 
God  in  the  river  before  you,  and  keep  it  fully  in  your 
sight,  then  though  it  be  overflowing  all  its  banks,  you 
shall  go  over  dry  shod.  This  is  the  thouglit  which 
to-day  I  mean,  by  God's  help,  to  vivify  and  illustrate. 


THE  UNTEODDEN  PATH.  83 

With,  the  Redeemer  as  our  atoning  sacrifice  and  our 
priestly  intercessor  clearly  before  our  faith-eye,  we 
are  safe  not  only  in  pursuing  the  beaten  track  of  daily 
life,  but  also  in  entering  upon  and  passing  over  new 
and  untried  pathways.     Let  us  take  a  few  instances. 

There  is  the  young  person  leaving  the  parental 
home  and  beginning  independent  life.  The  lad  has 
known  all  the  exj)eriences  of  school,  and  has,  perhaps, 
also  made  trial  of  business  duties,  while  yet  his  even- 
ings and  mornings  have  been  spent  in  the  loved 
society  of  the  family  circle  ;  but  now  he  is  to  go  forth 
a  stranger  to  an  unknown  city,  mayhap  even  to  cross 
the  ocean  to  a  foreign  land.  The  faces  he  is  to  look 
upon  he  has  never  before  seen ;  the  duties  he  is  to 
discharge  he  has  never  before  performed ;  the  dangers 
he  is  to  encounter  he  has  not  heretofore  met ;  the 
temptations  he  is  to  be  exj^osed  to  he  has  never 
yet  confronted ;  everything  is  to  be  new.  Hence, 
whatever  else  there  may  be  in  his  heart,  there 
is  beneath,  unspoken  and  almost  unspeakable,  a 
nervous  anxiety  as  to  what  is  before  him,  and  as  to 
liow  he  shall  get  through  it.  High  hope  will  brighten 
the  future  for  him  with  its  visions  of  honor  and 
success.  There  will  be  a  natural  and  laudable  self- 
gratulation  at  the  assumj^tion  by  him  of  the  respon- 
sibilities of  manhood,  and  he  may  be  able  so  to 
repress  his  feelings  in  bidding  father  and  mother  fare- 
well that  a  superficial  observer  may  think  that  he  is 
setting  out  in  highest  spirits  ;  but  in  the  depths  of 
his  soul  there  will  be,  and  the  more  thoughtful  he  is 
the  more  there  will  be,  a  solicitude  about  the  future, 
and  he  will  be  ever  considering  how  he  will  fill  his 
new  position  with  honor  to  himself,  satisfaction  to  all 
concerned,  and  glory  to  God.  Now  to  all,  in  such 
circumstances,   there  comes  the    principle    which    I 


84  THE  UNTRODDEN  PATH. 

have  deduced  from  this  interesting  portion  of  Script- 
ure narrative.  Keep  the  ark  clearly  before  you, 
young  man,  and  you  have  nothing  to  fear.  Let  your 
heart  ever  turn  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  let  your  soul  ever 
feel  the  constraining  influence  of  his  love ;  let  your 
eye  ever  rest  upon  his  holy  example ;  let  your  faith 
ever  fix  itself  upon  his  atoning  death,  and  that  will 
make  darkness  light  before  you,  and  crooked  things 
straight,  and  rough  places  smooth.  The  mariner  who 
can  use  his  quadrant  can  always  tell  where  he  is  if  he 
can  but  get  a  glimpse  of  the  sun  at  noon-day ;  and 
you  may  always  know  your  way  if  you  keep  unclouded 
before  your  faith  eye  the  Sun  of  Righteousness. 
"What  the  pocket  compass  is  to  the  traveler  over  the 
trackless  moor,  that  the  sight  of  the  ark  is  to  the 
Christian.  Let  nothing,  therefore,  intervene  between 
you  and  that.  Do  not  allow  gain,  or  pleasure,  or 
honor,  or  fashion,  or  applause  to  come  between  you 
and  your  covenant  God.  Wherever  you  are,  look  to 
him,  and  go  not  where  you  cannot  get  a  clear  and  un- 
interrupted view  of  him,  for  with  him  in  sight  it  will 
be  safe  for  you  to  go  where  foot  of  man  has  never 
trodden,  but  without  him  you  will  be  sure  to  stumble, 
even  though  your  path  should  lie  along  the  broadest 
and  the  smoothest  and  the  most  frequented  highway. 
But  tbat  I  may  not  seem  to  imj^ly  that  only  young 
men  have  anxiety  in  beginning  what  I  have  called  in- 
dependent life,  we  may  farther  aj^ply  this  principle  to 
the  young  woman,  on  the  day  when  she  leaves  her 
father's  house  to  be  the  center  of  the  home  circle  of 
another.  What  hopes  have  gravitated  toward  that 
day !  what  preparations  have  been  made  for  it !  what 
congratulations  have  been  uttered  regarding  it !  Yet 
now  that  it  has  dawned  there  is,  at  her  heart,  a  flut- 
tering of  strange  anxiety.     She  knows  the  life  that  is 


THE   UNTRODDEN  PATH.  85 

passed,  but  what  life  sliall  tliat  "be  wliicli  lies  all  un- 
discovered and  unexplored  before  lier  ?  Tliat  is  the 
question  which,  will  press  itself  in  upon  her  thoughts, 
and  which  gives  to  her  countenance  the  absent  ex- 
pression that  seems  so  peculiar.  All  is  mirth  and 
gayety  around  her.  Her  parents  will  not  let  her  see 
any  of  the  shadow  that  rests  upon  their  spirits  at 
parting  with  her.  Every  one  is  loading  her  with  pres- 
ents and  following  her  with  good  wishes.  Her  hus- 
band's face  is  beaming  with  unalloyed  delight,  and 
she  tries  to  reciprocate  his  joy.  But,  in  spite  of  her- 
self, she  feels  a  palpitating  solicitude  about  the  future. 
It  is  not  that  she  has  any,  the  slightest,  element  of 
distrust  in  him  with  whom  she  has  linked  her  lot,  but 
rather  that  she  distrusts  herself,  and  is  questioning 
whether  she  is  equal  to  the  new  duties  that  devolve 
upon  her.  So  on  the  very  verge  of  the  river  she 
seems  to  stand  with  "  reluctant  feet,"  as  if  she  hardly 
dared  to  cross.  But  here  there  comes  the  principle 
of  which  I  have  been  speaking.  Let  her  put  the  ark 
in  the  river  and  keep  that  in  sight,  and  all  will  be  well. 
Let  her  resolutely  look  to  Jesus  as  her  Saviour  and 
sovereign,  and  the  duties  of  her  new  life  will  become 
easy.  No  matter  what  cares  or  crosses  may  come, 
with  Christ  in  sight  nothing  can  come  wrong ;  and  if 
she  will  only  keep  earthly  things  from  hiding  him 
and  his  salvation  from  her  view,  she  will  find  that  she 
carries  everywhere  with  her  a  quiet  happiness  in  her 
heart,  and  that,  like  Spenser's  Una, 

— "  her  angel  face. 
As  the  great  eye  of  heaven,  shines  bright, 
And  makes  a  sunshine  in  a  shady  place." 

The  most  perplexing  things  will  become  easy  when 
we  see  Jesus  in  them ;  but  if  we  let  him  be  hidden 


86  THE  UNTKODDEN  PATH. 

from  US  by  any  influence  whatever,  then  the  merest 
trifle  may  become  a  fretting  source  of  never-ceasing 
misery. 

But,  passing  from  the  consideration  of  the  entrance 
on  a  new  sphere  of  life,  the  principle  on  which  I  am 
now  insisting  is  admirably  appropriate  to  the  case  of 
those  who  find  themselves  face  to  face  with  a  difficult 
duty  such  as  has  never  before  confronted  them.  In 
general  every  man's  life,  after  he  has  fairly  set  out 
upon  its  labors,  has  what  we  might  call  an  "  even  ten- 
or." There  is  an  ordinary  routine  of  work  to  be  done. 
Every  day  is  very  much  like  every  other ;  and  after 
a  time  his  anxiety  almost  disappears,  because  he  feels 
himself  able  to  meet  the  general  demands  which  are 
made  upon  him.  But  now  and  then  this  tranquil- 
lity is  interrupted.  Something  comes  that  he  has  not 
forecast.  There  is  a  danger  before  him  the  like  of 
which  he  has  never  faced.  There  is  a  work  to  be  done 
of  which  he  has  had  no  experience.  He  is  distrust- 
ful of  himself  in  the  matter.  He  knows  not  wheth- 
er he  shall  be  equal  to  the  exigency.  He  is,  as  the 
psalm  expresses  it,  "  at  his  wits'  end."  He  is  like  the 
medical  man  before  a  new  and  unheard-of  disease, 
or  like  the  young  seaman,  when  for  the  first  time  the 
dreaded  hurricane  comes  howling  down  upon  him. 
He  knows  not  what  to  do.  Now  here  again  our  prac- 
tical maxim  becomes  valuable.  Send  the  ark  before 
you  and  keep  it  in  sight.  Kemember  Jesus  and  his 
atoning  death.  Think  of  the  mercy-seat,  and  of  him 
who  sitteth  thereon  as  "  the  hearer  of  prayer."  Let 
the  truths  about  Christ  and  his  sacrifice  and  interces- 
sion fill  your  soul.  Open  your  hearts  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  then  you  will  be  guided 
as  safely  through  your  difficulty  as  were  the  tribes 
through  the  swollen  river.     Men  of  business  !  here  is 


THE   UNTEODDEN  PATH.  87 

a  most  useful  directory  for  you.  Amid  the  cares  and 
liarassments  of  your  daily  engagements,  you  are  too 
apt  to  think  that  religion  and  the  work  of  Jesus  have 
nothing  to  do  with  such  concerns  ;  and  so,  even  in 
times  of  hitherto  unexperienced  difficulty,  I  fear  that 
it  is  only  rarely  that  you  think  of  looking  to  him. 
Too  often,  indeed,  it  is  not  until,  in  the  attempt  to 
cross  the  river  without  his  help,  you  are  borne  away 
by  the  flood,  that  you  dream  of  calling  upon  him; 
whereas,  if  you  had  only  thought  of  him  in  time,  he 
would  have  given  you  strength  to  breast  it,  or  he 
would  have  parted  it  before  you  and  led  you  over  it 
dry-shod.  Not  for  spiritual  difficulties  alone,  not  for 
religious  duties  merely,  as  men  too  commonly  use 
these  words,  does  our  maxim  hold.  To  the  Christian 
every  difficulty  is  a  s^^iritual  difficulty,  and  every  duty 
is  a  religious  duty,  and  so  in  every  emergency  he  is 
warranted  to  look  to  Christ;  nay,  he  is  guilty  of  a  sin 
not  more  against  God  than  against  himself,  if  he  does 
not.  The  ark  is  as  much  in  its  proper  place  in  the 
counting-house  as  in  the  family  or  in  the  church  ; 
and  if  in  your  business  perplexities  you  had  more  re- 
course to  Jesus  directly  and  immediately,  without  let- 
ting any  intervening  human  element  come  in  to  hide 
him  from  your  thoughts,  you  would  more  frequently 
have  deliverances  to  tell  of,  and  would  find  yourselves 
singing  "new  ebenezers"  to  his  praise.  Depend  upon 
it,  you  will  not  soon  lose  yourselves  if  you  keep  him 
in  view.  Some  years  ago  a  party  of  travelers  were 
passing  over  one  of  the  Swiss  mountains.  After  they 
had  gone  a  considerable  way  it  began  to  snow  heavily, 
and  the  oldest  of  the  guides  gravely  shook  his  head, 
and  said,  "  If  the  wind  rises  we  are  lost."  Scarcely 
had  he  spoken  when  a  gale  arose,  the  snow  was 
whirled  into  multitudinous  drifts,  and  all  way  marks 


88  THE  UNTKODDEN  PATH. 

■were  obliterated.  Cautiously  they  moved  on,  not 
knowing  wliere  tliey  were,  and  almost  giving  them- 
selves up  for  lost.  At  length  one  of  the  guides,  who 
had  gone  a  short  w^ay  before  them  to  search  out  the 
path,  was  heard  shouting,  "  The  cross !  The  cross  ! 
"We  are  all  right."  And  what  had  the  cross  to  do 
with  it  ?  It  "was  one  of  those  religious  memorials 
■which  -we  so  frequently  meet  in  Eoman  Catholic  coun- 
tries, and  this  one,  set  up  at  first  by  some  j)rivate 
individual  for  a  personal  reason,  had  become  at  length 
a  "well-known  and  easily  recognized  landmark  for  the 
traveler.  Hence  the  moment  the  guide  saw  it  he 
knew  where  he  was,  and  what  direction  to  take.  But 
what  was  true  of  that  symbol  in  their  case  is  true  in 
all  instances  of  the  thing  which  it  signifies;  for  we 
may  always  know  where  we  are  when,  with  our  faith 
eye,  we  can  see  Christ  crucified.  That  reveals  every 
peril,  and  pierces  through  every  disguise  of  evil.  That 
bars  the  way  to  every  dishonor,  and  barricades  the 
entrance  to  every  pathway  of  iniquity.  Keep  that, 
therefore,  in  uninterrupted  view  and  you  will  never 
lose  your  way.  Get  hold  of  the  principles  which  un- 
derlie the  work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  as  the  Redeemer  of 
men ;  receive  into  your  hearts  the  Holy  Spirit  whom 
he  has  promised,  then  difficulties  wdll  become  easy, 
and  your  way  will  be  opened  up  before  you  as  you 
move  forward ;  for  as  the  rod  of  Moses  divided  the  sea, 
and  the  mantle  of  Elijah  parted  the  waters  of  Jordan, 
even  so  faith  in  the  crucified  Eedeemer  will  find  or 
make  a  way  in  every  emergency. 

But,  taking  another  line  of  remark,  the  maxim  to 
"w^hich  I  have  referred  may  be  applied  to  those  who 
are  called  upon  for  the  first  time  to  bear  some  heavy 
triah  Sorrow,  in  some  form  or  other,  77iust  come  upon 
us  in  the  world.     But  the  commonness  of  it  does  not 


THE  mTTEODDEN  PATH.  ^   89 

make  its  experience  a  whit  less  bitter  to  tliose  wlio 
are  required  to  drink  its  cup.  No  matter  liow  many- 
others  have  suffered  before  us,  our  first  acquaintance 
with  grief  is  ever  keen  and  poignant.  It  may  be  occa- 
sioned by  different  causes,  and  each  one  thinks  he 
could  better  have  borne  it  if  it  had  taken  him  in  some 
other  form.  In  some  it  may  be  produced,  as  it  was 
occasionally  in  David's  experience,  by  the  treachery 
of  friends  ;  in  others,  by  the  ingratitude  and  ungod- 
liness of  a  disobedient  son ;  in  others,  by  the  painful 
and  peculiar  illness  of  those  dearest  to  them ;  in  others, 
by  personal  affliction ;  in  others,  by  the  visit  of  the 
angel  of  death  to  their  home.  But,  however  it  comes, 
the  first  experience  of  sorrow  is  a  thing  that  cuts 
the  soul  to  the  quick,  and  leaves  upon  the  heart  an  in- 
effaceable record.  Like  the  highest  tide  upon  the 
shore,  it  sweeps  up  with  it  the  remains  of  the  lower, 
and  leaves  its  mark  longest  upon  the  strand.  I  dare 
say  there  are  few  here  who  do  not  know  from  their  own 
histories  how  true  these  words  are.  Thus,  to  take 
one  illustration  from  those  I  have  just  mentioned, 
how  terrible  the  earliest  acquaintance  with  bereave- 
ment !  It  is  a  solemn  time  when  first  Death  knocks  at 
our  door  for  admission,  and  will  not  be  gainsaid,  and 
whoever  be  his  victim,  whether  a  venerable  parent,  or  a 
beloved  partner,  or  a  darling  child,  the  anguish  of  the 
moment  is  intense.  I  shall  never  forget,  while  mem- 
ory lasts,  the  strangeness  of  the  experience  through 
which  I  passed  when  first  the  reaper  "  whose  name 
is  Death"  came  into  my  home,  and  "  with  his  sickle 
keen  "  cut  down,  at  one  thrust,  two  of  my  children. 
The  stroke  blinded  me  for  the  moment,  and  I  was  like 
one  utterly  forlorn  ;  but  when  at  length  I  opened  my 
eyes,  I  saw  the  ark  in  the  river,  and  that  instantly 
steadied  me.     I  knew  then  where  I  was,     I  remem- 


90  ,  THE  UNTRODDEN  PATH. 

bered  tlien  that  lie  who  liad  done  it  was  my  covenant 
God,  to  whom  I  had  given  my  little  ones  in  baptism, 
and  since  he  had  chosen  so  to  accept  my  gift,  I  asked 
myself  why  I  should  be  dismayed?  From  my  own 
experience,  therefore,  I  can  attest  the  efficacy  of  this 
consolation,  and  commend  it  to  all  who  are  in  trouble, 
more  especially  to  those  who  have  been  bereaved. 
Let  the  truth  symbolized  by  that  ark  be  but  accepted 
in  simple  faith,  and  even  in  the  moment  of  utter  deso- 
lation there  will  come  the  calmness  of  resignation, 
and  the  confidence  which  only  the  hope  of  reunion 
with  our  loved  ones  can  imjDart.  This  alone  can  avail 
us  at  such  a  time.  The  sympathy  of  friends  is  sooth- 
ing and  sweet,  the  kindly  offices  rendered  by  self-for- 
getting neighbors  are  valuable,  and  the  memory  of 
them  is  laid  up  in  the  holiest  recesses  of  our  hearts ; 
but  these  alone  would  not  take  the  sting  out  of  the 
sorrow,  or  the  bitterness  out  of  the  cup.  Only  the 
revelation  made  by  Jesus,  in  and  through  his  life, 
death,  and  resurrection,  as  the  substitute  of  men,  can 
lift  the  heart  out  of  its  sadness  and  link  the  recollec- 
tions of  the  happy  past  with  the  hopes  of  the  golden 
and  glorious  future.  No  matter  what  else  we  look  to, 
we  shall  still  find  ourselves  in  the  swelling  of  the 
river ;  but  the  moment  we  see  Jesus  our  feet  stand 
on  dry  ground.  He  assures  us  that  our  loved  ones 
live  still,  only  in  a  higher  and  more  blessed  condition, 
and  he  awakens  thus  within  us  a  desire  to  depart  and 
to  be  with  him  and  them. 

This  leads  me  naturally  to  remark,  in  the  last  place, 
that  the  maxim  which  I  have  been  illustrating  may  be 
applied  to  our  own  death.  That  is  an  experience  which 
must  be  always  unknown  to  us  until  we  die.  How- 
ever many  we  may  have  seen  depart,  the  path  to  our- 
selves must  be  strange  and  untraversed.    Nothing  can 


THE  UNTRODDEN  PATH.  91 

acquaint  us  with  it  save  the  treading  of  it  for  ourselves. 
But  Jesus,  by  his  own  death  and  resurrection,  has 
put  the  ark  before  us,  and  looking  at  that  we  shall 
find  the  river  dry.  Brother !  sister !  you  must  die ! 
That  experience  you  must  pass  through,  not  as  the 
Israelites  crossed  the  Jordan  in  the  midst  of  a  crowded 
company,  but  alone.  O,  see  to  it  that  you  can  keep 
Christ  in  view,  for  he  alone  can  then  sustain  you. 
Through  death  he  has  himself  delivered  them  who, 
through  fear  of  death,  have  been  all  their  lifetime 
subject  to  bondage.  These,  too,  are  his  precious 
words  :  "  When  thou  passest  through  the  waters  I  will 
be  with  thee,  and  through  the  rivers,  they  shall  not 
overflow  thee.  When  thou  passest  through  the  fire 
thou  shall  not  be  burned,  neither  shall  the  flame 
kindle  upon  thee."  "  I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  for- 
sake thee."  By  the  free  gift  of  pardon  he  has  taken 
the  sting  out  of  death,  and  by  his  resurrection  from  the 
dead  he  has  robbed  the  grave  of  its  victory.  What, 
then,  have  we  to  fear  ?  When  we  can  see  him  we  can 
calmly  sing  : 

"  The  hour  may  be  nigh  when  our  bosoms,  faint  heaving, 
Shall  breathe  their  last  sigh  in  the  peace  of  believing. 
And  Thou,  from  our  pillow  all  darkness  dispelling, 
Wilt  calm  the  rude  billow  of  Jordan's  proud  swelling. 
Hallelujah  to  the  Lamb  who  has  brought  us  a  pardon. 
We  will  praise  him  again  when  we've  passed  over  Jordan." 

But  there  may  be  some  here  who  have  never  yet 
made  Jesus  their  saviour  by  simple  trust  in  him  ;  and 
to  them  I  must  address  one  parting  word.  You  have 
had  many  difficulties  to  confront  in  the  past.  You 
know  how  you  failed  before  them.  When  your  busi- 
ness went  from  beneath  you,  and  you  had  no  prop  to 
lean  upon,  how  dreary  were  you  then  without  the 
Lord!     When  your   child   died,  and   all  the   world 


92  THE  XJNTKODDEN  PATH. 

seemed  to  you  draped  in  sadness,  how  utterly  pros- 
trate were  you  tlien  in  the  consciousness  that  you  had 
no  hold  on  Christ !  When  you  were  laid  aside  with 
serious  sickness,  and  you  thought  that  you  should 
die,  how  was  your  heart  filled  with  dread  at  the  pros- 
pect of  meeting  God !  Oh,  let  the  experience  of  the' 
past  warn  you  for  the  future  !  If  you  failed  under  the 
lesser  trials,  how  will  you  endure  the  greater  ?  "  If 
thou  hast  run  with  the  footmen  and  they  have  wearied 
thee,  how  shalt  thou  contend  with  horses  ?  and  if  in 
the  land  of  peace  wherein  thou  trustedst  they  wearied 
thee,  what  Avilt  thou  do  in  the  swellings  of  Jordan  ?  " 
"  None  but  Christ ;  none  but  Christ,"  said  Lambert 
at  the  stake  ;  and  there  is  none  else  can  be  a  real 
helper  unto  you,  either  in  life  or  death.  Put  the  ark 
before  you,  then,  and  keep  it  full  in  view.  That  only, 
but  that  always,  will  make  the  channel  dry. 

December  30,  1877. 


THE  PAST  IRREVOCABLE. 

Detjt.  xvii.  16.     Ye  shall  henceforth  return  no  more  that  way. 

These  words  in  tlieir  primary  application  are  a  pro- 
liibition.  Tliey  occur  in  that  section  of  Deuteronomy 
wliicli  lias  been  supposed  by  certain  modern  critics 
to  prove  tliat  tlie  book,  as  a  whole,  is  not  the  work  of 
Moses,  but  belongs  to  a  much  later  period  in  Jewish 
history.  Forecasting  the  future,  and  contemplating 
the  contingency  that  after  their  settlement  in  Canaan 
the  tribes  would  desire  a  king,  like  other  nations,  the 
great  lawgiver,  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  lays 
down  the  principles  which,  in  such  a  case,  they  were 
to  follow,  and  specifies  certain  things  which  their 
king  should  particularly  guard  against.  But  if  we 
admit  the  possibility  of  the  supernatural  in  the  shape 
of  prophecy  at  all,  there  is  absolutely  nothing  in  all 
this  inconsistent  with  the  common  belief  that  Moses 
himself  gave  these  directions  ;  and  if  we  deny  the 
possibility  of  the  supernatural  altogether,  the  ques- 
tion goes  farther  back  than  the  matter  of  the  author- 
ship of  Deuteronomy,  and  becomes  one  involving 
the  existence  and  personality  of  God  himself.  That, 
however,  is  not  a  matter  of  criticism,  but  of  philoso- 
phy; and  just  as  on  a  trial  for  high  treason  the 
prosecutor  does  not  feel  himself  bound  to  enter  on 
a  long  argument  to  prove  the  legitimacy  of  the 
government,  so  when  objections  of  the  kind  which 
I  have  indicated  are  raised  against  the  authenticity 
of  certain  portions  of  the   Scriptures,   the   defender 


94  THE    PAST    EREEVOCABLE. 

is  not  required  to  establish  anew  the  possibility 
of  the  supernatural.  If  reasons  of  another  sort  are 
given,  these  must  be  weighed  and  answered ;  but 
if,  on  the  simple  ground  that  all  prophecy  must  have 
been  written  after  the  event,  it  is  proposed  to  deny 
the  earlier  date  of  the  book  which  contains  a  predic- 
tion of  it,  then  we  may  safely  dismiss  the  plea  as  in- 
admissible, at  least  at  that  stage  ;  and  so  refuse  to  be 
diverted  from  our  purpose  by  the  attempt  to  debate 
any  such  question.  This  volume,  as  a  whole,  pro- 
fesses to  be  a  revelation  from  God.  If  there  be  no 
God,  or  if  it  be  impossible  for  him  to  make  known  his 
■will  to  men  through  a  book  sealed  by  miracles  and 
prophecies,  then  there  is  an  end  of  the  matter.  But 
if  there  be  a  God,  and  if  the  possibility  of  his  work- 
ing miracles  and  giving  through  his  servants  predic- 
tions of  future  events  be  conceded,  then  there  is  no 
relevancy  whatever  in  the  objection  to  the  Mosaic 
authorship  of  this  book,  on  the  ground  that  here  we 
have  a  reference  to  a  state  of  things  which  did  not 
exist  until  centuries  after  Moses  lived.  This  con- 
sideration, then,  removes  the  question  from  the 
region  of  criticism  altogether,  and  makes  it  not  so 
much  one  of  Moses  or  not  Moses,  as  of  God  or  no 
God. 

But  while  the  matter  of  the  kingdom  did  not  come 
up  until  long  after  Moses'  day,  there  is  in  this  injunc- 
tion against  the  multiplication  of  horses,  with  its 
appended  explanation,  something  which  to  my  mind 
clearly  indicates  that  the  prohibition  belongs  to  a 
date  immediately  subsequent  to  the  journeyings  of  the 
people  through  the  wilderness.  So  far  as  the  history 
makes  manifest,  there  was  not,  in  the  days  of 
Samuel,  any  tendency  among  the  people  to  go  down 
again  into  Egypt.     Amid  all  their  struggles  with  sur- 


THE  PAST   lEEEVOCABLE.  95 

rounding  tribes  under  the  Judges,  we  never  read  of 
any  desire  among  the  Israelites  to  call  in  the  aid  of 
those  who  had  formerly  been  their  oppressors.  But 
it  was  otherwise  immediately  after  the  exodus ;  for 
then  the  burden  of  their  exclamations  in  any  time  of 
trial  always  was  regret  that  they  had  left  Egypt ;  and 
even  in  the  very  year  before  they  entered  Canaan, 
within  twelve  months  of  the  time  at  which  Moses 
spoke  these  words,  when  they  were  suffering  from 
thirst,  they  cried,  "Wherefore  have  ye  made  us  to 
come  uj)  out  of  Egypt  to  bring  us  into  this  evil  place  ?  " 
So  in  the  words  here  used  concerning  the  king  :  "  He 
shall  not  multiply  horses  unto  himself,  nor  cause  the 
people  to  return  to  Egypt,  to  the  end  that  he  should 
multiply  horses,"  there  is  that  which  is  clearly 
Mosaic,  as  resting  on  his  knowledge  of  the  repeated 
hankerings  of  the  people  after  the  material  comforts  of 
their  house  of  bondage.  Here  was  a  reason  admirably 
appropriate  in  the  mouth  of  one  who  had  heard  the 
murmurings  of  the  tribes  at  being  deprived  of  the  good 
things  of  Egypt,  but  scarcely  such  as  would  have  been 
given  by  a  person  writing  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Jewish  monarchy.  The  prediction  relates  to  things 
a  long  way  before  ;  but  the  argument  by  which  the 
injunction  accompanying  it  is  enforced  rests  upon  ex- 
periences which,  to  Moses,  were  still  things  of  yes- 
terday. 

I  have  referred  to  these  matters  only  because  of 
the  prominence  into  which  recent  controversies  have 
brought  this  section  of  the  book  of  Deuteronomy  ;  and 
because  I  think  that  sufficient  attention  has  not  been 
given  to  the  point  which  I  have  just  brought  out. 

But  now,  leaving  this  discussion,  which  is  per- 
haps more  appropriate  for  the  lecture-room  than  for 
the  pulpit,  let  me,  before  proceeding  to  outline  the 


96  THE  PAST   lEREVOCABLE. 

train  of  tliought  wliicli  the  words  of  my  text  have  sug- 
gested to  me,  put  distinctly  before  you  the  great 
lesson  which  this  prohibition  enforces.  It  tells  us 
that  they  who  have  left  Egypt  must  never  return 
thither.  The  Christian  convert  must  keep  clear  of  his 
old  bondage-house.  He  must  have  nothing  more  to 
do  with  sin.  Having  named  the  name  of  Christ,  he  is 
to  depart  from  all  iniquity.  From  and  after  the 
"  henceforth  "  of  his  conversion  he  must  not  serve 
sin,  but  must  live  unto  him  who  died  for  him,  and 
rose  again.  The  time  past  of  his  life  must  suffice  to 
have  wrought  the  will  of  the  flesh.  There  must  be 
no  steps  backward  ;  no  casting  of  "  longing,  lingering 
looks  behind " ;  no  hankering  after  former  indul- 
gences. He  has  enlisted  under  the  banner  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  must  be  loyal  to  the  great  captain 
of  his  salvation.  His  heart  is  not  to  be  divided  be- 
tween Christ  and  the  world,  but  having  left  Egypt  he 
must  "henceforth  return  no  more  that  way."  Nay, 
so  thorough  must  the  renunciation  be  that  he  must 
keep  away  from  everything  that  has  a  tendency  to 
allure  him  back,  even  although,  in  itself  considered, 
it  may  not  be  a  sinful  thing.  There  is  in  itself  no 
harm  in  the  use  of  horses.  They  are  noble  animals. 
They  were,  moreover,  designed  by  the  great  Creator 
to  be  subservient  to  the  comfort  and  convenience  of 
men.  Yet  because,  in  those  early  days,  horses  could 
be  had  in  perfection  only  in  Egypt,  and  because  the 
going  thither  for  them  might  awaken  the  old  longing 
in  them  for  those  worldly  comforts  which  had  formerly 
beguiled  them  into,  or  reconciled  them  to,  their  slave- 
ry, the  law  is  laid  down  for  the  King  of  the  He- 
brews, and  through  him  for  the  people  themselves, — 
"Ye  shall  not  multiply  horses." 

Now,  similarly,  the  Christian  is  to  keep  away  from 


THE   PAST   lEREVOCABLE.  97 

everytliing  that  lias  a  tendency  to  draw  liim  back  to 
the  slavery  of  tlie  world  wliicli  lie  lias  renounced. 
No  matter  if  it  should  be  a  thing  which  is  in  itself  as 
harmless  as  the  use  of  a  horse,  yet  if  it  bring  him 
into  associations  and  alliances  which  endanger  his 
holiness,  or  weaken  the  force  of  his  protest  against 
sin,  he  is  to  keep  away  from  it.  He  is  to  look  at 
things  not  in  the  abstract,  but  in  connection  with 
their  tendencies  and  surroundings  ;  and  so  as  respects 
fashions,  amusements,  beverages  and  employments, 
he  is  to  give  up  those  which  would  bring  him  into 
dangerous  fellowship  with  the  ungodly  and  the  de- 
praved. To  make  sure  of  his  not  entering  Sodom  he 
must  not  even  "pitch  his  tent  toward"  it.  To  guard 
against  his  going  back  to  Egypt  he  must  not  "  mul- 
tiply horses."  To  prevent  his  returning  to  sin  he 
must  not  go  in  the  way  that  leads  to  it.  Here  is  a 
jDrinciple  far-reaching  and  important,  and  I  am  thank- 
ful that  it  has  come  up  now,  when,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
with  returning  prosperity  in  the  country  we  are  in 
danger  of  being  sucked  back  into  the  world's  ways. 
Take  it,  I  beseech  you,  and  act  upon  it,  that  you  may 
keep  yourselves  pure  and  undefiled. 

Thus  far  I  have  been  dealing  with  the  text  in  its 
primary  and  proper  application  ;  but  when,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  service  of  this  morning,  it  first  suggested 
itself  to  my  mind,  its  words  shaped  themselves  to  me 
as  a  simple  statement  rather  than  as  a  positive  prohi- 
bition ;  and,  in  that  sense,  they  seemed  to  me  to  be 
peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  closing  year.  We  have 
come  very  near  the  end  of  another  cycle  of  recorded 
time.  Before  another  Sabbath  dawns  we  shall  have 
entered  upon  a  new  year,  with  all  its  unknown  duties, 
responsibilities  and  trials ;  and  as  we  stand  to-day 
5 


98  THE   PAST    lEREVOCAELE. 

looking  back  upon  tlie  past,  tliere  comes  out  of  it  a 
voice  wliich  says,  "Ye  sliall  liencefortli  return  no  more 
tliis  way."  This  I  know  is  an  accommodation  of  tlie 
words,  ratlier  tlian  an  interpretation  of  tliem,  and  yet 
it  is,  in  my  judgment,  important  enough  to  have  our 
serious  and  solemn  attention.  The  past  is  lived.  "We 
cannot  go  back  over  it  again.  "We  cannot  unwind  it 
to  a  certain  point,  and  there  start  afresh  to  face  the 
same  difficulties  and  meet  the  same  responsibilities  as 
those  which  we  have  had  to  encounter.  Not  even 
the  power  of  Omnipotence  can  jDut  us  where  we  were 
twelve  months  ago,  or  roll  back  the  year  that  we  may 
live  it  over  again.  The  wheels  of  Time's  chariot  have 
ratchets  to  them,  and  they  move  only  forward.  The 
incidents,  opportunities,  and  events  of  the  past  are 
irrecoverably  gone,  and  "  we  shall  henceforth  return 
no  more  that  way." 

Now,  I  can  conceive  that  to  some  of  us  there  may 
be  relief  and  even  comfort  in  this  assurance.  The 
experiences  through  which  we  have  come  may  have 
been  such  that  we  cannot  wish  for  their  renewal.  The 
path  over  which  we  have  passed  may  have  been  so 
rough,  and  steep,  and  dangerous  that  we  cannot  con- 
template traversing  it  again  without  a  shudder.  When 
I  was  in  Chamonix,  last  summer,  a  friend  who  had 
crossed  the  glacier  and  come  down  by  the  "  Mauvais 
Pas,"  on  which  the  iron  railing  jjut  for  the  safety  of 
travelers  had  parted  from  its  fastenings  in  his  grasp, 
assured  me  that  he  would  not  go  through  that  expe- 
rience again  for  all  that  earth  could  give.  And  there 
may  be  not  a  few  among  us  who  feel  just  in  the  same 
way  concerning  some  chapters  in  our  last  year's  life. 
We  are,  perhaps,  thankful  to  be  through  them,  but 
we  do  not  wish  to  repeat  them.  "We  feel  regarding 
them  as   one   does  who   has    come   safely   out   of  a 


THE  TAST   IKREVOCABLE.  99 

terrible  railway  accident,  or  who  sets  his  foot  on  land 
after  a  dangerous  and  tempestuous  voyage.  We  are 
glad  that  we  have  escaped,  but,  even  although  we 
should  escape  another  time,  we  do  not  desire  to  be 
again  in  the  same  peril.  Take  any  one  of  those  ter- 
rible catastrophes,  so  many  of  which  occurred  last  year 
in  this  neighborhood,  and  ask  those  who  came  out  of 
them  unscathed  whether,  with  the  assurance  of  sim- 
ilar preservation,  they  would  relish  a  repetition  of 
their  experience,  and  they  will  answer,  with  a  solemn 
intenseness,  "No!  not  for  worlds!"  One  hears,  as 
he  replies,  the  rumble  of  the  falling  hippodrome ; 
another  sees  again  the  flames  of  the  burning  ship,  and 
the  passengers  leaping  in  wild  haste  and  confusion 
into  the  waters  ;  and  yet  another  seems  to  feel  anew 
the  waves  choking  his  cry  for  help.  These  memories 
give  almost  a  passionate  vehemence  to  their  gratitude 
as  they  cry  :  "  Thank  God  that  is  all  over ! "  For  them, 
therefore,  there  is  comfort  in  the  thought  that  "  they 
shall  henceforth  return  no  more  that  way." 

Some,  too,  may  have  had  such  a  time  of  labor  and 
anxiety  that  they  are  glad  to  think  that  it  is  now  be- 
hind them  and  not  to  be  renewed.  If  they  had  known 
of  it  before  they  entered  on  it  they  would  have  shrunk 
from  it,  and  now  that  they  have  had  actual  trial  of  it 
they  say  that  they  could  not  do  it  over  again.  They 
are  grateful  to  God  that  they  did  not  break  down 
under  the  strain,  but  they  have  had  enough  of  it, 
and  henceforth,  whatever  comes,  they  must  carry  a 
lighter  load.  There  are  not  a  few,  also,  whose  past 
months  have  been  so  filled  with  afilictions  that  they  do 
not  hanker  after  a  repetition  of  them.  They  have 
hardly  ever  been  out  of  the  sick  room  ;  or  they  have 
been  compelled  to  look  day  by  day  on  the  gradual 
decay  of  dear  ones  whom  they  have  had  ultimately  to 


100  THE  PAST   IRREVOCAELE. 

follow  to  tlie  grave  ;  or  the  pressure  of  -worldly  anxiety- 
has  been  so  heavy  upon  them  that  the  rolling  back  of 
the  year  and  the  renewal  of  its  trials  would  be  to  them 
a  thing  to  be  deprecated  rather  than  to  be  desired. 
And  some  there  are  who  have  had  such  a  fierce  fight  with 
temptation,  and  have  come  out  of  it,  victorious  indeed, 
yet  with  such  exhaustion  that  they  cannot  but  re- 
joice in  the  thought  that  now  it  is  all  behind  them  in 
"  the  irrevocable  past."  They  are  glad  for  the  result, 
but  they  would  not  willingly  go  back  into  the  agony  of 
the  conflict,  any  more  than  we  in  this  land  would  like  to 
pass  again  through  those  terrible  years  when  North 
and  South  met  each  other  in  hostile  array  on  so  many 
bloody  fields.  So  this  text,  taken  as  an  assurance  that 
we  cannot  re-live  our  lives,  or  go  again  through  the  ex- 
periences of  the  past,  has  in  it  an  element  of  comfort. 
It  is  a  relief  to  know  that  some  things  are  over  and 
done  with.  It  is  an  unspeakable  satisfaction  to  think 
that  whatever  new  trials  may  be  in  store  for  us,  those 
in  the  past  have  been  borne,  and  are  not  to  be  borne 
again. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  the  subject,  and  that  is 
full  of  solemnity,  not  unattended  with  sorrow.  For  in 
the  past  there  are  many  things  which  now  we  wish 
had  been  otherwise.  Our  afterthought  has  shown  us 
much  to  which  our  forethought  was  blind ;  but  we  can- 
not alter  anything  now.  All  is  done ;  and  nothing  be- 
hind us  can  be  undone.  The  past  is  always  seen  more 
correctly  after  it  has  become  the  j)ast  than  it  was  when 
it  was  present ;  and  so,  as  we  take  a  review  of  the  year 
now  nearing  its  close,  we  perceive  more  clearly  where 
we  have  failed,  or  in  what  we  have  been  to  blame,  than 
we  did  at  the  time  when  we  were  in  the  thick  of  the 
things  themselves.     "We  mark  positive  sins  now  where 


THE   PAST    IKEEVOCABLE.  101 

"we  saw  perhaps  only  slirewdnesses  or  matters  of  pru- 
dence at  tlie  moment.  We  can  tell  now  where  we 
missed  opportunities  of  doing  good  in  the  service  of 
God  and  our  generation  which  we  scarcely  observed 
as  we  came  up  to  them.  And  we  have  to  mourn  over 
the  fact  that  many  of  our  most  sacredly  formed  reso- 
lutions have  been  sadly  broken.  If  we  could  only  put 
these  things  right  now  !  If  we  could  only  take  back 
with  us  the  experience  which  we  have  since  acquired, 
and  begin  again,  say,  at  the  commencement  of  last 
year,  how  different  would  its  record  be  made  by  us ! 
But  that  cannot  be.  We  shall  "  return  no  more  that 
way  " !  What  is  done  is  done.  Lost  opj)ortunities 
cannot  be  recalled,  and  no  cement  of  human  device 
can  mend  a  broken  vow.  Ah !  what  a  sad  reflection 
have  we  here.  No  matter  how  tenderly  you  may  now 
feel,  young  man,  you  cannot  go  back  and  undo  the 
follies  of  these  months,  nor  can  you  arrest  their  con- 
sequences !  You  cannot  recall  the  profane  word ;  you 
cannot  wipe  out  the  impure  act;  you  cannot  undo 
the  sins  you  have  committed.  The  past  remains  fixed, 
unalterable  ;  not  to  be  washed  out  by  tears,  nor  to  be 
amended  by  repentance. 

What  then  ?  What  is  to  be  done  with  it  ?  I  answer, 
that  if  we  cannot  cancel  it,  we  can  confess  the  evil 
that  is  in  it,  and  seek  through  Jesus  Christ  forgiveness 
for  that.  If  we  please,  we  can  obtain,  through  the 
great  atonement,  acceptance  with  God  notwithstand- 
ing our  sins.  We  never  can  get  rid  of  the  fact  that 
they  have  been  committed  ;  but  we  may  be  cleansed 
of  the  guilt  of  committing  them.  We  may  be  re- 
ceived by  God  precisely  as  if  we  had  never  sinned ; 
and  so  the  sting  of  our  guilt  may  be  extracted,  and 
the  past  may  cease  to  be  a  clog  upon  our  spiritual 
progress.     By  faith  in  Jesus  we  may  be  enabled  in  a 


102  THE   PAST    lEREVOCABLE. 

very  true  sense  to  forget  even  our  sins  ;  and,  tak- 
ing the  good  out  of  our  experience,  we  may  make 
the  future  so  full  of  the  service  of  our  generation  that 
God  may  seem  almost  to  "restore  to  us  the  years 
that  the  locust  has  eaten."  The  reformed  drunkard 
can  never  go  back  and  undo  his  own  intemperance. 
It  will  forever  be  a  fact  that  he  sinned  in  that  par- 
ticular way.  But  in  Christ  he  may  obtain  forgiveness 
and  regeneration,  and  when,  like  a  Gough,  or  a  Bunt- 
ing, he  gives  his  life  to  the  reclaiming  of  those  who 
are  now  in  the  degradation  out  of  which  he  has  been 
raised,  he  has,  in  a  sense,  brought  good  out  of  his 
evil,  and  has  made  even  his  sinful  past  subservient 
to  his  present  usefulness.  The  thief  can  never  make 
it  true  that  he  never  stole  ;  but  he  may  obtain  forgive- 
ness from  the  Lord,  and  may  by  the  Holy  Ghost  be 
renewed  after  the  image  of  Christ ;  and  when,  like  a 
Jerry  McAuley,  he  gives  his  days  and  his  nights  to 
labor  for  the  conversion  of  the  criminal  population  of 
the  city,  he  too  is  showing  that  even  out  of  the  darkest 
chapters  of  a  man's  history  may  be  drawn  that  which 
may  make  him  specially  useful  to  some  classes  of  his 
fellow  men.  Now  what  is  so  conspicuously  true  in 
instances  like  those  which  I  have  named  may  become 
true  also  in  the  case  of  all  the  evils  that  are  behind 
us.  We  cannot  undo  them,  yet  we  can  prevent  them 
from  undoing  us.  We  cannot  cancel  them,  but  we 
can  have  them  forgiven,  and  we  can,  by  God's  grace, 
secure  the  wisdom  which  will  enable  us  to  utilize  our 
experience  in  connection  with  them  for  our  own 
good,  and  for  the  benefit  of  others.  When  we  are  con- 
verted from  them  we  may  be  able  by  the  blessing  of 
God  to  strengthen  our  brethren  all  the  better  from 
our  having  fallen  before  them.  This  is,  of  course,  no 
excuse  for  any  one's  committing  sin ;  neither  does  it 


THE  PAST   IKREVOCAELE.  103 

in  any  way  undo  the  sin  ;  but  it  casts  it  beliind  us  and 
keeps  it  from  fettering  us  in  our  future  progress  ;  yea, 
it  makes  it  even  a  minister  to  our  usefulness.  So, 
even  if  we  cannot  go  back  to  repair  the  past,  we  may 
gather  wisdom  from  it  to  make  the  future  more 
blessed. 

And  then,  turning  the  thought  which  the  words  of 
my  text  express,  we  may  make  it  full  of  admonition 
to  ourselves  for  the  future.  We  are  about  to  enter 
upon  a  path  in  which  there  will  be  no  possibility  of 
retracing  our  steps  ;  let  us  be  very  careful,  there- 
fore, where  we  jplant  our  feet.  We  have  only  once 
to  live  ;  therefore  let  us  live  to  purpose.  The  day 
that  dawned  this  morning  will  never  dawn  again. 
The  opportunities  which  it  brought  with  it  will  never 
come  again  ;  and  if  we  fail  to  fill  it  with  the  service  it 
requires  of  us  there  will  be  no  possibility  of  return- 
ing into  it  to  repair  the  mischief.  The  year  on  which 
we  are  about  to  enter  will  come  only  once ;  if,  there- 
fore, we  trifle  away  any  of  its  hours,  or  abuse  any  of 
its  days,  or  miss  any  of  its  opportunities,  the  evil  is 
irreparable.  So  let  us  seize  every  moment  as  it  comes, 
and  use  it  as  we  shall  wish  we  had  done  when  we  look 
back  upon  it  from  eternity.  Remember,  the  year  does 
not  come  to  you  all  at  once,  in  twelve  months  at  a 
time,  nor  even  in  twelve  distinct  installments  of  a 
month  each ;  no,  nor  yet  in  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  separate  portions  of  a  day  apiece :  but  in  individual 
moments.  Do  not,  therefore,  lose  the  moments  in 
thinking  that  you  will  secure  the  year  ;  but  consider 
that  the  year  is  to  be  redeemed  by  the  consecration  of 
each  moment  to  the  Lord  Jesus.  Fill  every  day  with 
his  service.  Meet  every  duty  that  confronts  you  as  a 
duty  to  be  performed  for  him.     Face  every  trial  that 


104  THE  PAST   IKKEVOCABLE. 

comes  to  you  as  a  trial  to  be  endured  for  him.  Bear 
every  affliction  that  falls  upon  you  as  an  affliction  to 
be  suffered  for  his  sake.  Think  not  that  by  and  by 
you  will  turn  to  him,  and  that  will  secure  life  as  a 
whole  for  him ;  but  let  every  moment  be  his,  and  that 
will  be  giving  him  the  life.  I  referred  a  little  while 
ago  to  the  fall  of  the  hippodrome  wall,  and  in  this 
connection  I  am  sure  many  of  you  will  recall  the  re- 
markable words  which  were  found  in  the  note-book 
of  one  of  the  victims  of  that  accident  to  this  effect :  "  I 
expect  to  pass  through  this  life  but  once  ;  if,  therefore, 
there  be  any  kindness  I  can  show,  or  any  good  thing 
I  can  do,  to  my  fellow  human  beings,  let  me  do  it  noiv. 
Let  me  not  defer  or  neglect  it,  for  I  shall  not  pass 
this  way  again."  Some  of  you,  too,  will  remember 
the  lines  of  Horatius  Bonar  in  which  the  same  thought 
is  expressed  : 

"  Not  many  lives,  but  only  one,  have  we. 

One,  only  one ; 
How  sacred  should  that  one  life  ever  be, 

That  narrow  span. 
Day  after  day  filled  up  with  blessed  toil. 
Hour  after  hour,  still  bringing  in  new  spoil." 

But  there  is  no  enforcement  of  this  trutli  to  be  com- 
pared with  that  which  comes  from  the  example  of  our 
Lord  himself.  These  are  his  words:  "I  must  work 
the  work  of  him  that  sent  me  while  it  is  day :  the 
night  Cometh  when  no  man  can  work  "  ;  and  so  con- 
stantly did  he  act  out  that  resolution  that  when  the 
time  of  the  crucifixion  arrived  he  could  say  not  only, 
"  Father,  the  hour  is  come,"  but  also,  "  I  have  glorified 
thee  on  the  earth,  I  have  finished  the  work  which  thou 
gavest  me  to  do."  For  every  hour  he  had  his  appro- 
priate work,  and  so  the  life  and  the  work  were  finished 
together.     And  when  you  ask  how  that  was  accom- 


THE  PAST   IKKEVOCABLE.  105 

plished  you  may  find  tlie  open  secret  in  his  saying  to 
Ms  followers,  "  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that 
sent  me,  and  to  finish  his  work."  On  that  he  lived, 
and  therefore  for  that  he  lived.  His  first  recorded 
words  were  these :  "  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be 
about  my  Father's  business?"  and  to  that  he  kept 
himself  until  the  last.  More  than  food,  more  than  rest, 
yea,  better  than  life  itself  to  him,  was  the  doing  of  that 
will;  and  when  we  fully  imbibe  his  spirit  our  lives 
will  come  to  be,  like  his,  rounded  into  finished  com- 
pleteness and  filled  with  blessing  and  beneficence  to 
our  fellow  men.  Remember  that  for  everything  God 
gives  you  to  do  there  is  a  day  when  it  can  be  done, 
and  a  night  when  the  doing  of  it  is  no  longer  possible  : 
so  seize  the  opportunity  and  do  everything  in  its  own 
day.  It  is  told  of  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  that  he  had 
engraven  on  the  dial-plate  of  his  watch  these  two 
Greek  words,  vv^  apx^rai^  "  the  night  cometh,"  in 
order  that  every  time  he  looked  upon  it  he  might  be 
stimulated  to  greater  activity  by  the  anticipation  of 
death.  But,  though  that  use  of  the  phrase  is  very  sug- 
gestive, its  reference  may  be  greatly  widened.  For 
every  duty  there  is  a  day  when  it  can  be  performed, 
but  if  that  day  be  trifled  past  and  the  duty  left  undone, 
there  comes  a  night  which  says,  "  Ye  shall  henceforth 
return  no  more  that  way."  God  give  us  grace  to  lay 
this  more  earnestly  to  heart,  and  then  when  death 
comes  we  shall  not  be  haunted  by  the  ghosts  of  neg- 
lected opportunities  or  embittered  by  the  pangs  of  un- 
availing regrets.  This  is  the  true  Christian  philosophy 
of  life,  and  I  would  exhort  you  to  adopt  it,  and  begin  to 
act  upon  it  to-day.  Remember  that  you  cannot  go  back 
a  single  step  to  make  the  past  different  in  the  least  de- 
gree ;  therefore  let  each  step  as  you  take  it  be  in  "  the 
right  way  "  :  a  step  of  which  Christ  will  approve  ;  a  steji 
5* 


106  THE  PAST   IKKEVOCABLE. 

which  will  bring  you  nearer  to  liim ;  a  step  which  will 
take  you  into  higher  experiences,  and  furnish  for  you 
a  nobler  vantage  ground  for  usefulness  ;  and,  as  you 
look  forward  to  the  commencement  of  another  year, 
let  your  aspirations  shape  themselves  into  this  simple 
supplication : 

"  O  Saviour,  Christ,  I  pray  thou  wilt  be  near 
To  consecrate  this  newly  opening  year  ; 
0  may  thy  love,  omnipotent  and  free, 
Bind  every  fiber  of  my  heart  to  thee,  ' 

And  every  power  and  every  wish  complete 
Be  laid  in  full  surrender  at  thy  feet." 

December  26, 1880. 


THE  VISION  OF  ELIJAH. 

1  Kings,  xis.  12.    And  after  the  fire  a  still  small  voice, 

"  Elijah  was  a  man  subject  to  like  passions  as  we 
are,"  and  at  no  time  are  we  more  convinced  of  that 
than  when  we  find  him  here  at  Horeb.  Not  long  be- 
fore, he  had  been  on  the  top  of  Carmel,  where  he  had 
gained  a  decisive  victory  over  the  priests  of  Baal ; 
but  now  he  has  fled  from  the  post  of  duty,  and  the 
cruel  threat  of  a  vindictive  woman  has  frightened  him 
almost  into  despair.  We  might  well  wonder  at  this, 
and  speak  of  it  as  a  moral  incongruity,  if  not  also  as  a 
psychological  impossibility,  if  we  did  not  ourselves 
know  from  experience  something  of  those  alternations 
of  ebb  and  flow  in  faith  and  feeling  which  seem  to  be 
inseparable  from  the  excitement  of  public  life  in  the 
service  of  the  Lord.  After  such  a  day  as  that  on  Car- 
mel, followed  as  it  was  by  his  earnest  wrestling  with 
God  for  the  coming  of  the  rain,  and  his  long  race  be- 
fore the  chariot  of  Ahab  to  the  gates  of  Jezreel,  a 
reaction  was  sure  to  come,  and,  as  the  hollow  corre- 
sponds to  the  hill,  so  in  one  who  was  by  nature  so 
intense  as  Elijah  the  depression  was  sure  to  be  ter- 
rible when  it  did  come.  Yet,  let  us  not  do  him  injus- 
tice by  imagining  that  he  was  most  deeply  distressed 
about  his  own  individual  interests.  It  is  true  that 
once  and  again  he  refers  to  his  belief  that  he  alone 
was  left  in  Israel  to  be  jealous  for  the  Lord  God  of 
hosts,  and  that  they  sought  his  life.  But  he  valued 
his  life  only  in  so  far  as  he  could  use  it  in  securing 
the  triumph  of  Jehovah's  cause,  and  it  was  because 


108  THE  VISION  OF  ELIJAH. 

that  seemed  to  liim  to  be  lost  that  lie  was  so  dreadfully 
cast  down.  His  lieart  was  set  on  tlie  regeneration  of 
Israel.  He  had,  as  he  believed,  inaugurated  a  great 
reform,  and  he  supposed  that  God  would  carry  it  to 
immediate  success.  But  instead  of  that  he  found  Jez- 
ebel as  determined,  as  unscrupulous,  and  as  cruel  in 
her  antagonism  as  ever,  and  thinking  that  the  conflict 
would  have  to  be  fought  over  again,  he  became  dis- 
pirited, and  fled.  He  expected  that  from  the  moment 
of  his  Carmel  victory  everything  would  go  right,  and 
that  the  whole  people  would  enthusiastically  declare 
themselves,  not  by  an  emotional  cheer,  but  by  a  life- 
long determination  for  Jehovah  ;  but  when  he  found 
that  this  was  far  from  being  the  case,  he  gave  up  the 
struggle,  and  went  into  the  wilderness.  Strange  as  it 
may  seem  in  one  whose  great  and  repeated  message 
was  "  The  Lord  God  of  Israel  liveth,"  he  forgot  to 
take  Jehovah  himself  into  the  account,  and  for  the  mo- 
ment he  acted  as  if  the  indifference  of  the  people  and 
the  bitter  opposition  of  Jezebel  were  mightier  than 
Omnipotence.  Possibly,  too,  he  had  been  trusting  too 
mucli  in  mere  power,  and  so,  when  he  found  that  it 
had  not  changed  the  heart  of  the  nation,  he  fell  into 
despondency. 

Now,  such  being  his  state  of  mind,  we  cannot  but 
admire  and  adore  the  wisdom  of  the  course  which  the 
Lord  took  with  him.  "When  he  lay  beneath  the  juni- 
per-tree the  angel  did  not  upbraid  him,  but  ministered 
to  his  wants  in  the  kindest  manner,  and  let  him  rest 
awhile  ;  then,  after  preparing  for  him  a  second  repast, 
he  led  him  to  Horeb,  where  the  very  associations  of 
the  place  with  the  greatest  events  in  the  history  of 
Moses  might  preach  to  him  of  the  majesty  and  yet  the 
mercy  of  the  Most  High.  Then,  when  before  him,  as 
erst  before  Moses,  the  Lord  passed  by,  his  glory  was 


THE   VISION   OF  ELIJAH.  109 

once  again  seen  to  be  especially  in  liis  goodness,  for 
lie  was  not  in  the  wind,  or  the  earthquake,  or  the 
fire,  but  in  "  the  still  small  voice,"  to  teach  his  servant 
that,  however  useful  these  might  be  in  calling  attention 
and  in  silencing  objection,  it  was  not  by  such  "  coups 
d'etat "  as  that  on  Carmel  that  the  work  of  regenerat- 
ing Israel  was  to  be  accomplished,  but  by  the  quiet 
influence  of  love.  There  had  been  much  about  him  of 
the  austere  and  the  denunciatory.  He  had  said  much 
to  terrify  and  alarm ;  but  the  greatest  glory  of  God 
was  not  secured  by  these  things.  The  earthquake, 
the  whirlwind,  and  the  fire  were  but  the  out-riders  of 
the  divine  majesty,  but  that  majesty  itself  is  "  gentle- 
ness," for  it  is  by  that  he  makes  men  "great."  The  one 
lesson,  therefore,  good  for  all  the  ages,  of  this  Horeb 
symbolism  is  that  "  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not 
with  observation,"  and  that  the  salvation  of  the  world 
is  to  be  wrought  out  by  him  of  whom  it  could  be  said, 
"  He  shall  not  cry,  nor  lift  up,  nor  cause  his  voice  to  be 
heard  in  the  streets.  A  bruised  reed  he  shall  not 
break,  and  the  smoking  flax  he  shall  not  quench." 
Not  John  the  Baptist,  with  his  stern  denunciation  and 
his  austere  asceticism,  but  Jesus,  with  his  love,  and 
tenderness,  and  self-sacrifice,  is  the  regenerator  of 
humanity ;  and  though  John  must  always,  in  some 
form  or  other,  go  before  Jesus,  yet  to  expect  that  he 
alone  shall  succeed  in  reforming  the  world  is  as  absurd 
as  it  would  be  to  anticipate  that  the  plowshare  and 
the  harrow  will  of  themselves  cause  the  ground  to 
produce  a  harvest  without  the  genial  heat' of  the  sun, 
and  the  kindly  rain  of  the  clouds.  Now  there  are 
three  respects  in  which  this  one  lesson  may  be  help- 
ful to  us  in  these  days : 

I.  In  the  first  place,  it  reminds  us  that  in  the  order 


110  THE   VISION  OF  ELIJAH. 

of  God's  government  the  quietest  influence  is  often 
the  most  powerful.  God's  greatest  works  are  carried 
on  in  silence.  All  noiselessly  the  planets  move  in 
their  orbits  ;  "  there  is  no  speech,  nor  language  ;  their 
voice  is  not  heard  "  as  they  sweep  on  through  their 
appointed  paths  in  space.  No  sound  attends  the  crys- 
tallization of  the  dewdrops  on  the  myriad  blades  of 
grass  in  the  summer  evenings ;  and  while  the  crops 
are  growing  in  the  fields,  so  profound  sometimes  is  the 
stillness  that  all  nature  seems  asleep.  What  greater 
revolution  can  there  be  than  that  which  recurs  at 
every  morning's  dawn  when  night  quits  her  "  ebon 
throne,"  and  resigns  her  empire  to  the  king  of  day  ? 
Yet  how  quietly  it  is  accomplished!  There  is  first  a 
streak  of  light  along  the  edge  of  the  eastern  horizon, 
so  faint  that  you  wonder  whether  it  has  not  shot  out 
from  that  brilliant  star ;  then  a  few  stray  gleams  of 
glory,  as  if  the  northern  aurora  had  flitted  to  another 
quarter  of  the  heavens  ;  then  a  flush  of  ruddy  beauty 
before  which  the  stars  begin  to  pale,  and  as  we  watch 
how  one  by  one  these  faithful  sentinels  put  out  their 
lamps,  the  sun  himself  appears,  and  becomes  the 
undisputed  monarch  of  the  heavens.  But  it  is  all  so 
silent  that  the  sleeper  is  not  awakened  on  his  couch, 
and  the  pale,  sick  one  who  has  been  longing  for  the 
morning  knows  not  it  is  there  until  through  the  shad- 
owed casement  it  looks  in  upon  him  with  its  benignant 
smile.  In  like  manner  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh 
not  with  observation.  There  is  no  crying  of  lo  !  here, 
or  lo !  there  !  Its  simple  j^resence  is  its  own  announce- 
ment and  its  mightiest  power. 

Now  this  is  a  truth  which,  as  it  seems  to  me,  we 
are  in  these  days  very  apt  to  forget.  We  have  fallen 
upon  a  generation  of  fuss,  and  bustle,  and  trumpet- 
blowing,  and  advertising.     It  would  almost  seem  as 


THE  VISION   OF  ELIJAH.  Ill 

if  many  of  us  believed  tliat  we  were  to  take  the  world 
by  storm.  We  get  up  excitements  in  mass-meetings, 
and  pass  resolutions,  and  listen  to  eloquent  orators, 
and  make  thundering  plaudits,  as  if  these  alone  were 
to  win  the  day.  We  think,  alas  !  too  often,  like  Elijah, 
that  the  victory  has  been  gained  when  we  are  but 
entering  upon  the  struggle.  We  have  more  faith  in 
the  whirlwind  and  the  earthquake  than  in  the  still 
small  voice ;  and  we  mistake  a  momentary  out-flash- 
ing of  enthusiasm  for  the  celebration  of  a  final  tri- 
umph. The  sensational  is  everywhere  in  the  ascend- 
ant. We  see  it  in  the  extravagance  of  dress  that 
seeks  to  call  attention  to  itself ;  we  see  it  in  the  domain 
of  literature,  in  the  highly  colored  and  hotly  seasoned 
romances  that  circulate  by  thousands  among  the  peo- 
ple ;  we  see  it  in  the  department  of  business,  in  the 
feverish  speculations  carried  on  by  individuals  who 
are  ambitious  to  bottle  up  the  trade  of  a  whole  con- 
tinent for  their  own  particular  benefit ;  we  see  it  in 
the  wide  field  of  national  affairs,  where  a  "  vigorous 
foreign  policy  "  is  pursued,  and  nations  are  embroiled 
only  that  a  Beaconsfield  may  wear  a  garter,  and  one 
nearer  home  may  have  his  name  kept  prominent ;  we  see 
it  in  the  church,  where  a  high  ritual  has  been  adopted, 
as  if  that  would  save  men's  souls ;  and  that  I  may 
carry  through  my  enumeration  with  absolute  impar- 
tiality, we  see  it  in  the  very  pulpit,  where  men  too  fre- 
quently discourse  on  every  topic  but  the  gospel,  and 
sometimes  discourse  on  that  under  ridiculous  announce- 
ments which  are  meant  to  draw  the  multitudes,  as  if 
that  were  equivalent  to  the  regeneration  of  their 
hearts.  Surely,  therefore,  there  is  something  in  this 
vision  for  our  sensation-loving  life.  The  Lord  is  not 
in  these  noisy  and  demonstrative  manifestations. 
These  of  themselves  will  not  avail,  either  for  abiding 


112  THE  VISION  OF  ELIJAH. 

success  or  real  happiness,  or  extended  usefulness. 
The  earthquake  may  shake  the  ground,  the  whirlwind 
may  rend  the  trees  ;  the  fire  may  devour  a  building,  a 
block,  aye,  even  a  city,  as  once  and  again  we  have  seen 
in  recent  years,  and  men's  hearts  remain  unchanged. 
Nothing  can  reach  them  but  "the  still  small  voice  "  of 
gospel  grace,  for  in  that  especially  Jehovah  speaks.  It 
were  well,  therefore,  that  we  had  less  faith  in  noise,  and 
more  in  that  which  is  the  most  God- like  thing  on  earth, 
namely,  a  character  molded  after  the  example  of 
Christ,  and  created  and  sustained  by  the  agency  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  It  were  well  that  the  voices  among  us 
were  less  loud,  and  the  deeds  were  more  pronounced. 
Life  is  more  potent  than  words  ;  and  character,  though 
quiet,  is  more  influential  in  the  long  run  than  any  im- 
mediate sensation  that  flares  up  and  crackles  like 
a  blaze  of  thorns,  and,  like  that  blaze,  dies  down  after 
a  brief  season.  Better  a  star  than  a  meteor,  however 
brilliant  for  the  moment  it  may  seem  ;  better  a  steady 
beacon,  like  the  light  on  yonder  headland,  than  a  danc- 
ing marsh-fire.  And  if  Christians  generally  would 
seek  to  act  out  the  principles  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  leaving  all  ad  captandum  and  self-seeking  de- 
vices alone,  they  would  soon  fill  the  land  with  an  in- 
fluence which  would  do  more  for  its  evangelization 
than  all  the  other  agencies  put  together  would  effect. 

II.  But,  in  the  second  place,  the  lesson  which  wo 
have  deduced  from  our  text,  taken  with  its  surroundings, 
reminds  us  that  the  force  of  love  is  always  greater 
than  that  of  sternness.  Every  one  has  heard  of  the 
old  fable  which  tells  how  the  sun  and  the  wind  strove 
with  each  other,  which  of  them  should  first  make  the 
traveler  divest  himself  of  his  cloak.  The  more  fiercely 
the  wind  blew  the  more  firmly  the  wayfaring  man  gath- 


THE  VISION   OF  ELIJAH.  113 

ered  his  outer  garment  about  him.  But  when  the  sun 
shone  warmly  upon  him  he  speedily  threw  the  weighty 
covering  from  his  shoulders.  So  antagonism  creates 
antagonism.  If  you  attempt  to  drag  me  by  force,  it  is 
in  my  nature  to  resist  you,  and  I  will  pull  against  you 
with  all  my  might ;  but  if  you  try  to  attract  me  by 
kindness,  it  is  equally  in  my  nature  to  yield  to  its 
influence,  and  I  will  follow  you  of  my  own  free  will. 
"What  the  hammer  will  not  weld  together  without  fiery 
heat  and  prolonged  labor,  the  magnet  will  bring  to- 
gether and  hold  together  in  a  moment.  So  in  dealing 
with  men,  the  mightiest  influence  is  love. 

But  there  had  been  little  of  that  in  Elijah's  dealings 
with  his  fellows.  Indeed,  his  intercourse  with  them 
had  been  but  fitful  and  infrequent.  His  history  is 
one  of  sudden  appearances  and  mysterious  hidings ; 
and  up  to  the  time  of  this  vision,  at  least,  though  he 
had  been  thoroughly  faithful,  he  had  shown  but  little 
tenderness  to  his  countrymen.  Evermore  he  had 
come  with  denunciation  on  his  lips,  so  that  even  the 
good  Obadiah  was  terrified  by  his  appearance  ;  and  if 
that  were  so  with  him,  we  cannot  wonder  that  Ahab 
and  his  partisans  were  roused  by  him  into  more 
furious  animosity.  There  had  been  enough  of  the 
terrible  in  the  past.  Now  he  must  go  back  and  try 
*'  the  still  small  voice  " ;  and  especially  he  must  ini- 
tiate a  successor,  who  should  be  not  the  similitude  but 
rather  the  complement  of  himself,  and  should  go 
about  in  love  and  fellowship  and  helpfulness  among 
the  people  of  the  land. 

But,  striking  as  is  the  illustration  of  the  truth 
that  terror  of  itself  cannot  move  men  to  repentance 
which  is  furnished  by  the  history  of  Elijah,  we  see 
the  other  side  of  it  in  its  higliest  manifestation  in 
the   work   of    Christ.      By  love    the    Lord   attracts 


114  THE  VISION  OF  ELIJAH. 

US  to  liimself  at  the  first,  and  by  love  lie  keeps  us 
with  him  to  the  last.  Law  and  terrors  do  but 
harden  the  heart,  but  love  melts  it  and  makes  it 
impressible.  See  how  this  came  out  in  the  Saviour's 
dealing  with  the  woman  whom  her  accusers  dragged 
rudely  before  him  as  taken  in  the  very  act  of  sin. 
Her  soul  was  chafing  under  their  harshness.  She 
was  in  a  mood  to  be  defiant.  Angry  words  had  no 
doubt  been  the  first  upon  her  lips,  and  she  might 
have  spoken  bitterly  to  her  tormenters.  But  when 
she  saw  his  benignant  countenance  and  heard  his  gra- 
cious words,  the  frown  passed  from  her  face,  the  pa»- 
sion  disajppeared  from  her  eyes,  and  the  determination 
to  vindicate  herself  went  out  of  her  heart.  Thus  she 
was  not  injured  by  his  kindness,  for  her  sin  never 
seemed  so  hideous  to  her  as  it  did  when  he  said  to 
her,  "  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee  " ;  and  she  never 
judged  herself  so  severely  as  in  the  moment  when  she 
received  his  forgiveness.  When  sternness  has  had  its 
Carmel  victory,  Jezebel  is  as  defiant  as  ever ;  but  when 
love  succeeds,  the  woman  of  Samaria  becomes  a 
preacher  of  the  gospel.  Sternness  would  have  said 
to  Nicodemus  :  "  You  are  a  coward  ;  when  you  come 
to  me  in  the  open  day  and  say  in  the  hearing  of  all 
men  what  you  have  spoken  to  me  in  secret,  then  I 
will  instruct  you  "  :  and  that,  most  likely,  would  have 
driven  him  away  for  ever.  But  love  told  him  of  God's 
gift  of  his  Son  to  the  world,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life ; 
and  the  result  was  seen  that  day  when,  at  the  foot  of 
the  cross,  whence  ten  of  the  very  apostles  had  fled, 
Nicodemus  was  found  made  great  by  the  Redeemer's 
gentleness. 

Now,  here    again  we   have   a   word  in  season  to 
many  among  ourselves.      If  the   pastor   is   "  under 


THE  VISION  OF  ELIJAH.  115 

the  juniper  tree,"  and  bewailing  his  want  of  success 
—  wondering  why  inquirers  rarely  come  to  him, 
and  crying  like  Isaiah,  "Who  hath  believed  our 
report  ?  "  let  him  examine  and  see  whether  he  has 
not  been  attempting  to  move  men  by  sternness  rather 
than  by  love.  Let  him  ask  himself  whether  he  has 
not  been  dealing  in  side  subjects  away  from  the  great 
center,  and  forgetting  the  attraction  that  is  always  in 
the  cross.  Let  him  inquire  whether  he  has  given  due 
prominence  in  his  discourses  to  the  love  of  God,  and 
whether  he  has  not  been  going  about  among  his 
people  cold  and  stern  and  repulsive,  rather  than 
tender,  affectionate,  and  winsome  in  his  gentleness. 
"Who  has  not  heard  of  the  great  mistake  committed 
by  the  first  Moravian  missionaries  to  Greenland — how 
they  began  their  labors  by  seeking  to  instruct  the 
people  concerning  the  being  of  God  and  the  evidences 
of  Christianity,  and  the  future  state  of  reward  and 
punishment,  and  wondered  why  they  saw  no  fruit, 
and  how  they  were  at  once  enlightened  and  reproved 
by  perceiving  the  effect  produced  upon  the  minds  of 
some  of  the  natives  by  their  hearing — or  rather,  I 
should  say  overhearing,  for  it  had  not  been  intended 
that  they  should  hear — the  reading  of  the  account  of 
the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ '?  *'  What  is  that 
you  read  ?  "  they  said.  "  Read  it  to  us  again."  And 
then  there  began  a  great  movement  among  them, 
which  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  multitudes.  Ah  ! 
yes,  does  not  the  temptation  of  the  modern  pulpit  take 
it  just  here  ?  The  preacher  wishes  to  be  intellectual, 
original,  eloquent,  and  chooses  his  themes  so  that  he 
may  be  able  to  make  manifest  these  qualities.  But 
God  is  not  in  these,  for,  though  they  may  awaken 
admiration,  they  are,  after  all,  cold,  stern,  marbly 
things   and   do   not   reach  the   heart.     Nothing  will 


116  THE  VISION  OF  ELIJAH. 

touch  that  but  "  the  still  small  voice  "  that  tells  of 
Jesus  and  his  love.  That  is  the- only  instrument  the 
Spirit  will  employ  in  changing  a  man's  nature.  Let 
the  pastor,  therefore,  get  back  to  that,  and  preach  it 
with  a  love  corresponding  to  that  of  Jesus  in  his  own 
heart,  and  he  will  never  lack  results.  Well  said  the 
good  Angel  James — and  from  his  own  experience  he 
had  a  right  so  to  speak, — "  Kaise  me  but  a  ham  in  the 
very  shadow  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and  give  me  a 
man  who  shall  preach  Christ  crucified  with  something 
of  the  energy  which  the  all-inspiring  theme  is  cal- 
culated to  awaken,  and  you  shall  see  it  crowded  with 
warm  hearts  ;  while  in  the  statelier  building  hard  by, 
if  the  Gospel  be  not  preached  there,  the  matins  and 
vespers  shall  be  chanted  to  the  statues  of  the  mighty 
dead."  Let  the  desponding  pastor  heed  these  words, 
and  let  him  try  the  "still  small  voice"  telling  of  the 
love  of  Christ  upon  the  cross ;  and  though  the  Jew 
may  call  it  an  offense  and  the  Greek  pronounce  it 
folly,  he  will  find  that  it  is  the  power  of  God  iinto 
salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth. 

I  say  the  same  thing  to  the  Sunday-school  teacher 
who  is  sad  at  heart  because  he  seems  to  -see  his 
scholars  indifferent,  yea,  even  perhaps  antagonistic,  to 
all  his  appeals.  Have  you  tried  them,  my  brother, 
with  the  "still  small  voice  "  of  gospel  love  ?  Perhaps 
you  have  been  dealing  too  exclusively  in  the  whirl- 
wind, the  earthquake,  and  the  fire.  Have  they  ever 
felt  your  gentleness  ?  Do  they  know  you  love  them  ? 
and  have  you  ever  told  them  of  Christ's  love  to  them  ? 
Have  you  ever  laid  you  hand  in  pleading  affection 
upon  them,  and  let  them  see  that  you  are  in  earnest 
for  their  salvation  ?  We  have  lesson  heljDS  nowadays 
in  abundance.  Every  religious  newspaper  has  some 
learned  man  at  work  to  simplify,  illustrate,  and  en- 


THE  VISION  OF  ELIJAH.  117 

force  the  meaning  of  the  passage  that  is  to  be  the 
theme  for  the  week,  and  that  is  all  well  so  far  as  it 
goes.  But  never  forget  that  the  best  teaching  help  is 
a  loving  heart ;  and  if  you  desire  that  you  must  keep 
yourself  in  close  personal  contact  with  the  Lord.  If 
I  wish  to  make  steel  magnetic  I  must  bring  it  to  a 
magnet,  and,  in  like  manner,  if  I  would  win  men  to 
Christ  by  love  I  must  first  have  the  love  of  Christ 
in  my  own  heart.  He  must  magnetize  me  before 
I  can  myself  become  a  vehicle  of  his  magnetism.  As 
Sister  Dora  said,  "  Be  very  full  of  the  glad  tidings, 
and  you  will  tell  others."  Oh,  my  fellow  laborers,  let 
us  always  remember  that  all  the  other  matters  without 
that  will  avail  nothing ;  but  that,  even  without  many 
of  them,  will  be  made  powerful  by  God.  Learning  is 
good,  illustration  is  good,  accuracy  of  interpretation  is 
good ;  but  love  is  best  of  all :  therefore,  with  all  our 
getting,  let  us  get  love,  and  let  us  avoid  continually 
severity  and  sternness. 

Need  I  add  here  that  the  same  principle  applies  to 
parents  in  the  training  of  their  children  in  the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord  ?  Are  you  disappointed 
in  the  results  of  your  labors  with  your  sons  and 
daughters  ?  Then  let  me  beg  you  to  examine  whether 
you  have  not  been  trusting  in  the  whirlwind,  the 
earthquake,  and  the  fire,  and  forgetting  the  "  still 
small  voice  "  ?  You  say  you  have  tried  everything. 
Let  me  ask  you  if  you  have  tried  gentleness  ;  and  let 
me  beseech  you  to  make  the  experiment  of  that.  Do 
not  rudely  drive  your  children  from  you,  but  open  to 
them  the  arms  of  your  affection.  Make  home  attract- 
ive to  them,  and  then  you  may  discover  that  there  is 
more  power  in  love  to  win  them  to  yourself  than  there 
is  in  terror  to  repel  them  from  the  evil  against  which 
you  have  hitherto  been  so  sternly  warning  them.     A 


118  THE  VISION  OF  ELIJAH. 

happy  liome  is  tlie  best  safeguard  against  the  prodi- 
gality of  cliildren. 

III.  But,  in  the  last  place,  the  lesson  which  we  have 
deduced  from  our  text,  taken  with  its  surroundings, 
reminds  us  that  the  apparently  insignificant  is  often- 
times really  the  most  important.  The  "  still  "  voice 
was  also  "  small."  It  was  little  in  comparison  with 
the  whirlwind,  the  earthquake,  and  the  fire,  but  it 
moved  Elijah  himself  more  than  they  all.  He  was  at 
home  with  the  raging  elements.  He  laid  his  hand 
even  upon  the  lightnings  and  they  came  at  his  bid- 
ding, saying.  Here  are  we  ;  and  so  none  of  these  terri- 
ble things  moved  him.  But  the  small  voice  bowed  him 
down,  "  for  it  was  so  when  he  heard  it  that  he 
wraj)ped  his  face  in  his  mantle  and  went  out,  and 
stood  in  the  entering  in  of  the  cave."  So  sometimes, 
yet,  the  man  who  is  unmoved  by  the  most  awful  exj)os- 
tulations  and  the  most  desolating  judgments  is  sub- 
dued at  last  by  the  prattling  pathos  of  a  little  child. 
"We  must  not  undervalue  agencies  because  they  seem 
to  be  insignificant.  It  was  said  of  the  Lord  himself, 
"  Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  "  and  the 
first  apostles  were  despised  as  "  unlearned  and  igno- 
rant men."  Yet  though  God  used  only  "the  weak 
things  of  the  world,"  he  did  confound  with  them  "  the 
things  which  are  mighty."  The  big  trees  in  California 
have  sprung  from  seeds  each  of  which  is  no  larger 
than  a  grain  of  wheat ;  and  the  river  which  at  its 
source  is  a  tiny  tinkling  rill  over  which  a  child  may 
stride,  is  at  its  mouth  broad  enough  and  deep  enough 
to  bear  a  navy  on  its  bosom.  Let  us  not,  therefore, 
"  despise  the  day  of  small  things,"  or  say  of  any  agency 
"  Is  it  not  a  little  one  ?  "  A  few  drops  of  water  rightly 
used  may  raise  a  heavy  weight ;  and  even  a  little  child 


THE  VISION  OP  ELIJAH.  119 

may,  by  the  help  of  God,  be  the  means  of  lifting  up 
some  sinner  from  his  degradation  and  bringing  him  at 
once  to  his  Saviour  and  himself.  One  does  not  need 
to  be  some  great  one  to  do  good  service  for  the  Lord. 
The  clarion  voice  of  the  great  Reformer  indeed  rung 
out  in  "  half-battle  "  words  over  Europe,  but  it  was 
first  that  of  the  poor  miner's  son  singing  for  bread 
upon  the  open  street ;  and  the  pen  of  a  tinker  has 
written  a  book  which  has  gone  into  many  languages 
and  many  lands  as  the  j)ower  of  God  to  souls  unnum- 
bered. Thus  often  the  "  small  voice  "  of  the  obscure 
believer  of  whom  men  have  scarcely  heard  has  inau- 
gurated a  movement  that  has  blessed  a  multitude. 
Let  no  one  say,  therefore,  that  he  can  do  nothing,  for 
still  the  promise  holds,  "  One  man  of  you  shall  chase 
a  thousand  ;  for  the  Lord  your  God  he  it  is  that  fight- 
eth  for  you  as  he  hath  promised  you."  And,  again, 
"A  little  one  shall  become  a  thousand,  and  a  small  one 
a  strong  nation.  I  the  Lord  will  hasten  it  in  its 
time."  This  touches  us  all,  for,  no  matter  how  circum- 
scribed our  sphere,  or  how  limited  our  resources,  we 
may  have  some  little  thing  that  we  can  do  which,  in 
its  place,  will  correspond  to  this  "  still  small  voice." 
The  uselessness  of  many  is  perfectly  accounted  for 
when  we  say  that  because  they  cannot  do  something 
great  all  at  once  they  will  do  nothing  at  all.  Here, 
again,  the  love  of  sensation  makes  its  appearance  ;  and 
it  is  forgotten  that  those  agencies  which  are  now  the 
greatest,  and  which  have  in  them  most  of  the  elements 
of  permanence,  had  their  beginnings  in  the  smallest 
things.  Each  was  first  a  faintly  stirring  thought  in  the 
heart  of  some  humble  disciple  ;  then  the  thought 
grew  into  desire,  and  the  desire  stimulated  to  a  begin- 
ning with  such  things  as  he  had,  and  then  "  the  hand- 
ful of  corn  upon  the  top  of  the  mountains  "  grew  up 


120  THE  VISION  OF  ELIJAH. 

into  a  harvest  which  "  shook  like  the  cedars  in  Leba- 
non." Wesley  never  dreamed  of  anything  so  great  as 
the  Methodism  of  to-day  when  he  began  his  work  ;  and 
if  we  will  examine  it  well  we  shall  discover  that  almost 
every  one  of  those  institutions  that  are  now  radiat- 
ing blessings  round  them  had  its  commencement  in 
something  which,  as  contrasted  with  the  high-sound- 
ing pretensions  of  earthly  grandeur,  was  as  insignifi- 
cant as  the  still  small  voice  of  my  text  after  the  whirl- 
wind and  the  earthquake.  Courage  then,  my  brethren ! 
Let  each  go  forth  and  do  the  little  that  is  at  his  hand 
with  all  his  might,  and  God  will  make  that  little  great. 
Say  not  that  you  have  no  influence,  for  the  tiniest 
child  has  a  power  which  no  human  arithmetic  can 
reckon.  Do  not  affirm  that  you  have  no  resources,  for 
if  you  can  call  God  your  own  you  have  the  wealth  and 
power  and  wisdom  of  the  Infinite  behind  you.  Forth 
then,  and  begin  your  work !  It  is  work  which  only 
you  can  accomplish.  It  is  work  which  the  world 
needs.  It  is  work  for  which  the  Saviour  calls.  It  is 
work  which  shall  have  results  stretching  into  eternity. 
Wait  not  for  some  great  opportunity  :  the  golden  year 
is  now ;  the  accepted  time  is  to-day  ;  the  appointed 
sphere  is  where  you  are.  Do  not  quarrel  with  your 
call  as  Moses  tried  to  do,  or  begin  to  make  excuses 
about  your  weakness  and  inefficiency.  Here  is  the 
answer  to  all  these  objections :  "  Certainly  I  will  be 
with  thee."  Go  then,  like  Gideon,  in  this  thy  might, 
and  the  strongholds  of  Satan  will  fall  before  thee  in  a 
manner  as  unaccountable  to  the  men  of  the  world  as 
was  the  crash  of  the  walls  of  Jericho  at  the  blast  of 
the  rams'  horns.     May  God  add  his  blessing.     Amen. 

Februaby  13,  1883. 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  SIN. 

Hebrew  xL  25.     Choosing  rather  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people 
of  God  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season. 

In  tliis  cTiapter,  which,  is  devoted  to  the  heroes  of 
faith,  no  paragraph  is  more  worthy  of  study  than  that 
which  refers  to  Moses.  It  sets  before  us  the  motive 
principle  of  the  sublimest  life  of  which  ancient  history 
can  boast,  and  if  I  were  minded  to  enter  biographically 
upon  its  exposition  I  should  call  you  to  observe  par- 
ticularly the  following  points,  viz. :  that  the  choice  of 
Moses  was  not  blindly  made  in  the  impulsive  ardor 
of  boyhood,  and  while  yet  he  knew  not  what  he  was 
required  either  to  suffer  or  to  sacrifice,  but  maturely, 
when  he  was  come  to  years,  and  was  in  the  full  vigor 
of  his  powers  ;  that  it  involved  the  forfeiture  of  the 
grandest  position  in  the  world,  and  the  endurance  of 
privation  and  hardship ;  that  it  was  made  from  a  re- 
gard to  truth  and  with  firm  belief  in  the  rightness 
of  God's  moral  administration  and  in  the  certainty  of 
a  future  recompense  ;  and  that  it  resulted  in  the  attain- 
ment of  a  nobler  sort  even  of  earthly  grandeur  than 
he  could  otherwise  have  reached,  with  the  added  ad- 
vantages of  the  favor  of  God  and  eternal  glory.  But 
for  the  present  my  purpose  is  more  limited.  As  by 
the  powerful  lens  you  gather  the  sunlight  into  one  burn- 
ing spot  which  sets  anything  inflammable  on  fire,  so 
this  morning  I  wish  to  focus  the  lessons  of  this  pas- 
sage upon  the  one  expression  which  I  have  selected  as 
my  text,  if,  by  any  means,  their  concentrated  influence 
6 


122  THE  PLEASUEES  OF  SIN. 

may,  tlirougli  the  help  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  kindle  in 
your  hearts  the  fire  of  piety.  My  words  will,  I  trust, 
prove  salutary  to  those  of  all  ages,  but  I  earnestly  be- 
speak the  attention  of  the  young.  You,  also,  my  be- 
loved friends,  have  a  choice  to  make ;  nay,  whether 
you  are  conscious  of  the  fact  or  not,  you  are  already 
in  the  actions  of  every  day  making  a  choice  whose 
issues  stretch  throughout  eternity.  It  is,  therefore, 
of  the  deepest  importance  that  you  have  clearly  before 
you  the  nature  and  consequences  of  those  things  be- 
tween which  you  have  to  make  your  election.  I  will 
endeavor  to  make  those  aj)parent  to  you  this  morning, 
and  I  beseech  you  to  weigh  well,  in  the  balance  of  a 
calm  and  candid  judgment,  the  statements  which  I 
shall  make. 

Let  it  be  conceded,  then,  in  the  outset,  that  sin  has 
pleasures.  This  must  be  true,  otherwise  men  would 
not  commit  it.  In  every  instance,  at  least  in  the  out- 
set of  the  sinner's  career,  he  is  drawn  toward  iniquity 
by  the  belief  that  in  some  way  or  other  it  will  minister 
to  his  enjoyment.  Sometimes  he  may  have  no  higher 
aim  than  the  gratification  of  a  prurient  curiosity.  At 
other  times  his  sin  may  begin  in  the  impatience  of  re- 
straint and  the  pleasure  which  is  felt  in  overleap- 
ing the  barriers  which  authority  or  afiection  may  have 
placed  before  him.  Sighing  for  self-forge tfulness  one 
may  flee  to  the  maddening  cup  to  secure  that  object ; 
while  another  may  seek  only  the  wild  throb  of  sensual 
delight.  Thus  sin,  at  first,  is  indulged  in  for  pleasure, 
and  doubtless  there  is  a  kind  of  enjoyment  in  its  com- 
mission. I  do  not  deny  that,  for  it  would  be  both 
irrational  and  absurd  to  do  so ;  neither  do  I  ignore  it. 
I  admit  it  in  the  frankest  and  fairest  manner ;  but 
my  question  is,  What  are  the  characteristics  of  such 
pleasure  ?     Take  it  at  its  best,  and  suppose  you  have 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  SIN.  123 

the  greatest  joy  that  it  is  possible  for  sin  to  furnish, 
of  what  sort  is  it,  and  what  is  it  worth  ?  My  answer  is 
that  its  value  is  what  mathematicians  would  call  a  neg- 
ative quality — it  has  the  minus  sign  before  it;  that 
is  to  say,  "  it  costs  more  than  it  comes  to  " ;  in  the 
equation  of  life  it  does  not  add  to,  but  rather  takes 
from,  the  sum  total  of  your  happiness,  and  leaves  you 
less  truly  yourself  than  you  v/ere  before  you  enjoyed 
it.  That  you  may  judge  for  yourselves  I  will  give  you 
the  data  from  which  I  have  worked  out  this  result, 
and  that  you  may  better  remember  them  I  will  put 
them  in  the  form  of  a  few  simple  propositions  : 

I.  In  the  first  place,  then,  take  note  that  the  pleas- 
ures of  sin  are  short-lived.  In  the  expressive  symbol- 
ism of  Scripture,  they  are  like  water  in  a  broken 
cistern  which  speedily  runs  out ;  or  like  the  blaze  of 
thorns  which  crackle  and  flame  up  for  a  little  and  then 
die  down  into  a  heap  of  ashes  ;  and  the  experience  of 
all  who  have  indulged  in  them  will  corroborate  this 
statement.  There  is  in  them,  at  best,  only  a  temporary 
thrill  which  vibrates  for  a  moment  and  needs  to  be 
reproduced  again  and  again.  They  are  not  joys  for- 
ever. They  do  not  live  within  a  man,  sounding  a 
ceaseless  undertone  of  happiness  in  his  "  secret  soul " 
wherever  he  may  be.  They  cannot  be  said  to  give 
pleasure  save  for  the  brief  season  that  the  excitement 
lasts.  Take  intemperance,  for  example.  There  must 
be  some  kind  of  exhilaration  in  the  state  of  intoxica- 
tion, even  though  it  should  be  produced  by  the  de- 
thronement of  reason  and  conscience  for  the  time ;  but 
how  long  does  that  ecstasy  continue  ?  Ask  those  who 
know  best  from  their  own  experience,  and  they  will 
tell  you  that  even  when  they  have  seemed  to  secure  it 
their  joy  has  passed  away  from  their  embrace  and 


124  THE  PLEASUKES  OF  SIN. 

tliey  have  been  left  in  deeper  misery  tlian  before.  Nor 
is  this  true  of  that  sin  only.  It  holds  alike  of  all.  The 
pleasure  of  iniquity  in  any  form  is  confined  to  the 
moment  of  indulgence  in  it.  It  is  not  a  thing  which 
you  can  catch  and  keep  for  any  length  of  time.  You 
have,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  to  manufacture  it  anew  on 
every  occasion,  and  each  time  it  will  be  found  to  be  as 
volatile  as  before.  You  can  only  recall  the  enjoyment 
by  repeating  the  sin  ;  and  with  each  repetion  the  same 
discovery  of  the  fleeting  nature  of  the  joy  is  made.  It 
is  not  a  fountain  sending  ever  forth  its  sparkling 
waters  ;  but  it  is  a  leaky  pitcher  which  is  empty  be- 
fore we  can  drink  out  even  that  which  it  at  first  con- 
tained. Do  not  suppose  that  this  is  an  exaggeration, 
or  that  I  am  straining  my  very  utmost  to  make  out  a 
case,  and  so  representing  the  matter  unfairly.  You 
suspect  the  preacher,  perhaps,  of  undue  prejudice 
against  these  enjoyments,  and  in  spite  of  all  his  pro- 
testations to  the  contrary,  you  are  inclined  to  take  a 
large  discount  from  his  words.  Listen,  then,  to  another 
witness,  whose  testimony  I  give  in  lines  which  are  not 
more  exquisitely  beautiful  than  they  are  strictly  true  : 

"  Pleasures  arc  like  poppies  spread — 
You  seize  the  flower,  its  bloom  is  shed  ; 
Or  like  tlie  snow-fall  in  the  river — 
A  moment  white,  then  melts  forever  ; 
Or  like  the  Borealis  race 
That  flit  ere  you  can  point  their  place  ; 
Or  like  the  rainbow's  lovely  form 
Evanishing  amidst  the  storm," 

Now  these  are  the  words  of  a  man  who  had  no 
great  liking  for  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  who,  on 
occasion,  could  hold  them  uf)  to  merciless  scorn  and 
lash  them  with  the  scorpion-scourge  of  his  stinging 
satire.     You  cannot,  therefore,  suspect  him  of   any 


THE   PLEASUEES   OF   SIN.  125 

bias  in  favor  of  tlieir  way  of  putting  tilings.  Tliey 
are,  besides,  the  expressions  of  one  who  spoke  from 
personal  experience.  He  had  indulged  in  the  pleas- 
ures of  sin  ;  he  had  taken  from  them  all  they  had  to 
give,  and  yet  this  is  his  testimony  regarding  them. 
But  why  need  I  call  up  the  shade  of  that  gifted  poet 
here?  I  make  my  appeal  to  yourselves.  Have 
you  got  that  amount  of  pleasure  out  of  sin  which 
you  expected  from  it  when  you  began  to  yield  to  it? 
You  know  you  have  not.  Think  not  to  say  within 
yourselves  that  though  your  little  indulgence  in  it  has 
brought  you  only  disappointment,  a  greater  would 
give  you  satisfaction.  Can  you  change  the  character 
of  sin  by  adding  to  its  enormity  ?  Depend  upon  it, 
the  greater  the  sin  the  greater  will  be  the  disappoint- 
ment. Seek  not,  therefore,  permanent  happiness 
where  it  can  never  be  found.  Over  every  sinful 
pleasure  you  may  write  the  Lord's  own  words  :  "  Who- 
soever drinketh  of  this  water  will  thirst  again."  It  is 
only  when  we  come  to  Christ,  and  find  pardon  and 
peace  in  him,  that  enduring  hapj^iness  can  be  ob- 
tained. And  we  receive  it  from  him  because  he 
works  a  change  upon  our  inner  nature.  Sin  sends  us 
out  of  ourselves  for  joy.  Jesus  gives  us  enjoyment 
by  coming  into  us  and  supping  with  us  and  we  with 
him.  Hence  the  true  Christian  carries  ever  his 
pleasure  within  himself.  It  does  not  depend  on 
external  things  ;  but,  itself  an  internal  thing,  it  sends 
itself  out  throughout  all  his  life.  It  is  not  an  ex- 
perience separate  from  everything  else  in  his  con- 
sciousness so  much  as  an  element  entering  into  and 
pervading  all  his  actions  and  emotions.  As  the  stop 
in  the  organ  is  not  itself  a  separate  note,  but  gives  its 
own  peculiarity  to  every  note  which  the  player  sounds 
for  the  time,  so  Christ  in  the  heart  is  not  there  dwell- 


126  THE  PLEASUKES  OF  SIN. 

ing  apart  in  a  secluded  shrine,  but  entering  into  all 
the  experiences  of  the  soul,  elevating  and  ennobling 
them  all.  Weigh  well  this  contrast,  and  I  think  you 
will  have  no  difficulty  in  deciding  which  you  will 
choose.  Pleasure  in  sin  is  external  and  evanescent. 
Christian  happiness  is  internal  and  permanent.  The 
one  springs  from  what  the  sinner  is  at  the  moment 
doing,  and  disappears  when  the  deed  is  done ;  the 
other  results  from  what  the  believer  is,  and  is  endur- 
ing as  his  own  character;  the  one  is  galvanic  and 
spasmodic,  lasting  only  while  the  sin-battery  works, 
the  other  is  calm  and  natural ;  the  one  is  like  the 
lightning — a  brief  gleam  enduring  but  for  a  moment ; 
the  other  is  like  the  light,  not  only  beautiful  in  itself, 
but  bathing  everything  in  its  own  loveliness.  Surely 
there  need  be  no  hesitation  here.  Surely,  with  these 
facts  before  you,  the  choice  of  Moses  will  be  repeated 
by  you  and  you  will  forego  the  pleasures  of  sin. 

II.  In  the  second  place,  take  note  that  the  pleas- 
ures of  sin  leave  a  sting  behind,  and  will  not  bear 
after-reflection.  There  is  guilt  in  them,  and  there 
never  can  be  happiness  in  contemplating  that.  Yet 
when  the  brief  hour  of  joy  is  fled  the  guilt  is  the 
entire  residuum  of  the  joy.  Have  you  ever  entered 
a  banqueting-hall  the  morning  after  some  high  festi- 
val had  been  held  in  it,  and  while  yet  everything 
remained  precisely  as  the  guests  had  left  it  at  the 
midnight  hour  ?  The  candles  burned  to  the  sockets, 
the  floor  covered  with  the  evidences  of  the  night's 
hilarity,  the  dishes  piled  confusedly  upon  the  tables, 
and  the  decorations  which  looked  so  gay  in  the  brill- 
iant lamplight  now  all  withered  and  disheveled ! 
You  can  scarcely  believe  it  is  the  same  place  as 
that  which  a  few  hours  before  resounded  with  mirth 


THE  PLEASUEES  OF  SIN.  127 

and  song,  or  re-echoed  witli  the  applause  of  some 
orator's  address.  It  is  deserted ;  nay,  it  is  repulsive ; 
and  you  turn  away  from  it  to  moralize  on  the  passing 
glory  of  all  earthly  things.  But  such  an  external 
contrast  is  nothing  to  that  which  is  furnished  by  the 
history  of  the  votary  of  pleasure  when  you  compare 
what  he  is  in  the  moment  of  indulgence  with  what 
he  feels  in  the  hour  of  reflection.  Follow  him  to  his 
chamber.  Visit  him  in  the  morning,  as  he  is  com- 
pelled to  confront  himself.  See  his  bloodshot  eye, 
his  quivering  hand,  his  starting,  timid,  nervous  move- 
ment at  every  sudden  sound.  Go  in,  if  you  can,  into 
his  inmost  feelings,  and  what  is  there  left  after  the 
momentary  happiness  of  his  indulgence  ?  He  will  not 
look  into  his  heart  to  describe  himself  to  you.  He 
dares  not  do  it.  There  is  no  companion  he  more  fears 
than  himself ;  there  is  no  sound  to  him  half  so  pain- 
ful as  silence  ;  and  so  he  flees  back  to  the  society  of 
his  companions,  and  seeks  in  the  noise  of  revelry  re- 
newed to  drown  "  the  still  small  voice  "  of  conscience. 
But  it  will  not  be  always  hushed.  Sometimes,  even 
in  the  midst  of  merriment,  its  upbraidings  will  come 
as  the  ghost  of  Banquo  intruded  at  the  royal  feast ;  and 
often  mid  the  darkness  of  the  night  they  will  drive 
sleep  from  his  pillow.  The  great  dramatist,  in  that 
most  weird  and  yet  most  instructive  tragedy  to  which 
I  have  just  alluded,  has  shown  us  how  sin  "  doth  mur- 
der sleep,"  and  that  the  stain  upon  the  conscience 
will  not  "  out,"  though  washed  by  all  the  waters  of 
the  ocean  or  sweetened  by  the  perfumes  of  Arabia, 
but  we  must  beware  of  supposing  that  his  represent- 
ation is  true  only  of  such  unscrupulous  ambition  as 
leads  to  murder.  What  saith  the  wise  King  about 
the  ruby  cup  ?  "  Look  not  upon  the  wine  when  it  is 
red,  when  it  giveth  its  color  in  the  cup,  when  it  moveth 


128  THE  PLEASURES  OF  SIN. 

itself  ariglit ;  at  the  last  it  bitetli  like  a  serpent  and 
stingetli  like  an  adder."  At  the  last !  at  the  last ! 
Oh,  that  men  would  learn  to  forecast  the  future  in  this 
way,  and  to  think  of  what  must  be  "  at  the  last !  " 
Eemember  that  the  day  is  coming  when  you  must  look 
back  on  all  you  have  done  and  enjoyed.  But  what  a 
retrospect  is  that  of  the  man  of  pleasure  !  Is  there 
on  this  earth  a  sadder  sight  than  that  of  him  who 
has  lived  a  life  of  sinful  indulgence  looking  back  upon 
the  guilty  past  and  saying :  "  It  had  been  good  for  me 
that  I  had  never  been  born  "  ?  His  time  wasted,  his 
talents  abused,  his  energies  prostituted,  his  conscience 
crying  out  with  a  power  that  gives  him  only  too  sure 
a  foretaste  of  the  pangs  of  hell— where  is  there  in  this 
wide  world  a  more  horrible  experience  than  that? 
And  yet  that  is  what  the  pleasures  of  sin  come  to 
even  on  earth — at  the  last.  And  what  beyond  ?  Even 
in  that  lowest  deep  there  is  a  lower  deep  still  opening 
to  devour  him  ;  but  I  will  not  attempt  to  portray  that. 
In  the  powerful  picture  of  Noel  Paton,  which  he  has 
styled  the  "Dance  of  Pleasure,"  you  see  a  motley 
multitude  of  young  and  old,  and  rich  and  poor,  and 
men  and  women,  rushing  madly  after  the  queen.  They 
care  not  for  eacli  other.  In  the  fury  of  their  selfish- 
ness they  strike  against  each  other  and  trample  each 
other  down ;  yet  still  they  follow  on,  and  she  is  decoy- 
ing them  to  the  brink  of  an  awful  abyss,  over  which 
each  at  length  must  fall.  But  the  painter  shows  only 
its  dark  and  rugged  edge,  leaving  suggestion  to  preach 
the  warning.  So  I  would  on^  lead  you  to  the  border 
of  the  unseen  state,  and  leave  conscience  to  testify  to 
the  dreadful  perdition  which  is  the  end  of  sin. 

How  different  from  all  this  is  is  the  experience  of 
the  Christiauly  good  man.     His  happiness  will  bear 


THE  PLEASUEES  OP  SIN.  129 

reflection.  It  will  stand  cross-examination.  His  yes- 
terdays look  backward  with  a  smile,  and  do  not,  Par- 
thian-like, wound  him  as  they  fly.  He  has  had  his 
struggle  and  conflict.  Yet,  in  the  happiness  which 
he  has  enjoyed,  there  has  been  nothing  to  give 
him  pain.  He  had  pleasure  in  the  experience  at 
the  time,  and  he  has  even  more  now  as  he  looks 
back.  I  do  not  know  if  there  be  on  earth  a  moro 
beautiful  thing  than  the  old  age  of  a  Christian  who 
in  youth  dedicated  himself  to  God,  and  has  spent 
his  life  in  keeping  that  holy  resolution.  His  con- 
science is  peaceful,  his  heart  is  happy,  his  future  is 
glorious.  Which  way  he  looks  there  is  beauty.  Behind 
him  his  whole  life  seems  gilded  with  the  purple  splen- 
dor of  the  setting  sun ;  around  him  his  children  are 
clustering  in  holy  afiection ;  before  him  Christ  is  pre- 
paring him  a  welcome  in  his  Father's  house  ;  above 
him  there  is  a  crown,  incorruptible,  reserved  for  him 
to  wear.  The  traveler  in  Switzerland  sees  few  more 
lovely  sights  than  that  which  is  associated  with  the 
descent  of  the  Great  Scheideck  through  Eosenlaui  to 
Meyringen.  The  pathway  runs  now  through  thickets, 
and  now  through  green  pasture-land,  inclosed  by  for- 
est and  enlivened  by  chalets  and  herds  of  cattle.  As 
you  move  downward  you  see  little  or  no  splendor,  and 
are  hemmed  in  on  every  side  with  perj)endicular  walls 
of  rugged  rock  ;  yet,  ever  as  you  turn  to  look  behind, 
you  are  transported  with  the  scene  that  meets  your 
view.  In  the  forefront  the  pine  forest,  swayed  by  the 
breeze,  seems  bowing  its  head  in  lowly  reverence  to 
the  great  Monarch  of  all ;  while  in  the  background  rise 
the  snowy  peaks  of  the  Wellhorn  and  the  Wetterhorn, 
tinted  with  the  blush  of  sunset,  and  forming  a  battle- 
ment of  mountain  grandeur  scarcely  surpassed  by  the 
range  even  of  Mont  Blanc.  Such  a  valley,  I  think,  is 
G* 


130  THE   PLEASUEES   OP  SIN. 

tlie  life  of  tlie  Cliristian  on  the  earth.  As  lie  descends 
the  way  seems  commonj)lace  enough.  The  yodel  of 
the  herdsmen  and  the  lowing  of  the  cattle  are  in  his 
ears,  and  he  sees  nothing  that  is  remarkable ;  but 
when  he  looks  behind  the  retrospect  is  full  of  gran- 
deur, and  the  grandest  thing  about  it  is  that  its  gilded 
summits  point  him  to  the  higher  glories  of  the  heaven 
that  is  awaiting  him.  Which,  then,  will  you  choose  ? 
You  cannot  altogether  escape  pain  on  earth ;  but,  in 
the  case  of  sinful  pleasures,  the  joy  is  for  the  moment, 
the  pain  is  permanent ;  in  the  case  of  holiness,  the 
pain  is  for  a  time,  while  the  happiness  is  everlasting.  I 
speak  as  unto  wise  men.  Judge,  therefore,  whether  you 
should  not,  from  this  hour,  forswear  the  pleasures  of  sin. 

III.  In  the  third  place,  take  note  that  the  pleasures 
of  sin  are  such  that  the  oftener  they  are  enjoyed  there 
is  the  less  enjoyment  in  them.  There  is  a  wonderful 
harmony  between  God's  moral  law  and  the  physical, 
intellectual,  and  moral  nature  of  man  ;  for  every  viola- 
tion of  its  precepts  does,  in  the  end,  evoke  the  protest 
of  all  our  powers.  Sinful  indulgence  either  -palls 
upon  the  taste,  or,  by  its  reaction  on  the  system,  de- 
stroys the  very  capacity  for  continuing  in  it,  in  which 
case  the  craving  remains,  while  the  ability  to  satisfy 
it  is  gone.  This  is  a  part  of  my  theme  which  might 
be  illustrated  in  a  very  harrowing  manner ;  I  prefer, 
however,  to  suggest  it  thus  to  you  in  the  simplest  way, 
leaving  you  to  think  it  out  for  yourselves.  The  con- 
firmed drunkard  has  not  now  the  pleasure  which  he 
Lad  at  first  in  the  fiowing  bowl.  The  enjoyment  has 
gone,  and  only  the  slavery  remains.  But  it  is  so  with 
every  other  sin.  Each  time  such  guilty  pleasure  is 
felt,  a  portion  of  the  sensitiveness  is  destroyed,  and  it 
takes  more  to  produce  the  same  excitement  again,  until 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  SIN.  131 

at  last  it  is  impossible  to  produce  it  by  any  means 
■whatever.  But  with  the  joys  of  holiness  it  is  quite 
different.  The  oftener  we  enjoy  them  they  are  the 
higher.  The  longer  and  better  a  man  knows  Christ 
the  more  happiness  does  he  derive  from  him.  This 
is  a  joy  which  never  cloys ;  this  is  a  pleasure  which 
never  palls ;  this  is  a  delight  which,  so  far  from  de- 
stroying the  capacity  to  receive  it,  only  increases  that 
the  more,  so  that,  at  the  close  of  his  career,  the  be- 
liever can  say  to  Jesus  what  the  governor  of  the  feast 
said  at  Cana,  "  Every  man  at  the  beginning  doth  set 
forth  good  "wine,  and  when  men  have  well  drunk  then 
that  which  is  worse ;  but  thou  hast  kept  the  good 
wine  until  now.'  Here  again,  therefore,  I  offer  you 
the  materials  for  coming  to  a  wise  decision  in  regard 
to  this  momentous  matter.  I  am  persuaded  that  the 
longer  you  think  out  the  point  which  I  have  now 
rather  hinted  to  you  than  amplified  before  you,  the 
more  will  you  be  convinced  of  its  truth.  Why,  then, 
will  you  choose  a  pleasure  which  will  burn  out  of  you 
the  very  power  to  reproduce  itself  and  reduce  you  to 
a  helpless  slavery  ?  Turn,  I  pray  you,  to  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  through  faith  in  him  and  obedience  to 
him  you  will  enter  upon  the  enjoyment  of  a  happiness 
which-  shall  grow  upon  you  as  the  sun  waxes  to  its 
meridian  height,  and  which  has  in  itself  the  elements 
of  the  blessedness  of  heaven. 

ly.  Finally,  I  would  have  you  to  take  note  that  the 
pleasures  of  sin  are  most  expensive.  Here  I  refer 
not  to  money,  though  that  is  by  no  means  unimpor- 
tant ;  and  when  men  are  inclined  to  say  that  they  can 
not  afford  to  be  Christians,  I  would  like  them  to  sit 
down  and  calmly  reckon  up  how  much  their  sins  cost 
them.     But    I    speak  now  of    the   expense   of    the 


132  THE  PLEASUEES  OF  SIN. 

man's  own  nature.     Tlie  -word  of  God  says,  "  Bloody 
men  shall  not  live  out  half  their   days "  ;   and  not- 
withstanding  the   existence   of  a   few   exceptions,   I 
am  persuaded  that,  in  regard  to  vicious  men  gener- 
ally, this  will  be  corroborated  by  observation  and  ex- 
perience.    The   sinner   is  old   before  his  time.     His 
physical  power  is  gone.     The   least    illness  proves 
serious  to  him.     He  can  make  no  such  drafts  on  his 
strength  as  he  was  wont  to  do,  or  if  he  attempt  to  do 
so  his  life  is  the  forfeit.     His  intellect  has  lost  its 
freshness.     It  needs  to  be  whipped  up  by  stimulants ; 
and  when  theii*   influence   is   removed   it  sinks  into 
lethargy  and  weakness.     His  will  has  become  power- 
less.    He  is  swayed  one  way  or  another  entirely  by 
outward    influences.       His    conscience    has    become 
seared.     In  a  word,  he  is  a  wreck.     Did  you  ever  look 
upon  that  wild  sea-piece  of  Stanfield's  which  he  has 
called  "  The  Abandoned  "  ?     The  sky  is  dark  and  low- 
ering, with  a  forked  flash  of  lightning  shooting  athwart 
it ;  the  ocean  is  angry,  and  all  over  it  there  lies  a 
dreary  loneliness   that   makes   the   spectator   almost 
shudder.     The  one  solitary  thing  in  sight  is  a  huge 
hull,  without  mast  or  man  on  board,  lying  helpless  in 
the  trough  of  the  sea.     The  men  who  stood  by  her  as 
long  as  it  was  safe  have  been  picked  up  by  some 
friendly  vessel  now  entirely  unseen,  and  there  that 
battered,  broken  thing  floats  on  at  the  mercy  of  the 
winds  and  waves.     That  is  sad  enough  ;  but  what  is  it 
after  all  in  comparison  with  the  condition  of  an  aban- 
doned man,  abandoned  by  friends,  abandoned  by  him- 
self, abandoned,  it  may  be,  even,  like  Saul,  by  God, 
and  drifting  on  the  ocean  of  life  all  dismantled  and 
rudderless,  tossed  hither  and  thither  by  every  wind 
of  appetite  or  impulse,  and  soon  to  disappear  beneath 
the  waters !     And  what  then  ?    I  dare  not  trust  my- 


THE  PLEASUEES   OF  SDST.  133 

self  to  speak  of  tliat.  Muse  ou  it  yourselves  for  a 
moment,  and  then  say  if  you  can  calculate  tlie  cost  of 
tlie  pleasures  of  sin  ?  Far  otherwise  is  the  experience 
of  the  Christian.  His  pleasure  is  not  expensive.  A 
little  goes  a  great  way  with  him,  and  the  more  of 
Christ  he  knows  the  more  does  he  learn  to  use  his 
body  as  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  his  intellect  as 
an  instrument  of  serving  God,  and  his  will  in  choosing 
to  run  in  the  way  of  the  divine  commands.  His  faith 
brightens  his  mental  powers,  not  at  first,  indeed,  but 
through  the  stimulating  influence  of  the  truths  which 
he  believes.  His  love  strengthens  his  will,  and  his 
steadfastness  in  well-doing  softens  the  sensibility  of 
his  conscience,  making  it  as  quick  to  the  presence  of 
evil  as  the  apple  of  the  eye  is  to  the  least  particle  of 
dust.  Christian  faith,  indeed,  will  not  make  a  genius 
out  of  a  dullard ;  but  it  will  make  the  man  nobler, 
physically  and  mentally  as  well  as  morally,  than  with- 
out it  he  would  have  been.  So  far  from  wasting  his 
energies  it  economizes  them,  and  haloes  them  all 
with  the  joy  of  its  own  happiness.  Perhaps  you 
imagine  I  have  overdrawn  the  contrast !  Let  me, 
therefore,  fortify  my  assertion  by  a  suggestive  con- 
trast taken  from  real  life  ;  and  that  you  may  have  every 
justice,  I  summon  to  testify  before  you  one  who  had 
ample  riches  at  his  command,  who  wore  the  coronet 
of  a  peer,  and  who  beside  was  dowered  with  heaven's 
own  gift  of  brilliant  genius  which  secured  him  world- 
wide renown.  He  had  everything  the  world  could 
give,  and  yet  ere  he  had  finished  his  thirty-seventh 
year  he  wrote  thus  of  himself : 

"  My  days  are  in  the  yellow  leaf, — 

The  flower,  the  fruit  of  life  are  gone : 
The  worm,  the  canker,  and  the  grief 
Are  mine  alone." 


134  THE  PLEASIJEES  OF  SIN. 

Now,  on  tlie  otlier  side,  let  me  call  an  English  non- 
conformist minister  in  the  time  of  his  old  age.  He 
was  gifted  with  an  eloquence  which  has  rarely  been 
equaled  and  endowed  with  a  loftiness  of  intellect 
that  enabled  him  to  grapple  with  the  mightiest 
themes,  but  all  through  life  he  was  a  martyr  to  the 
most  distressing  physical  anguish,  so  that  he  had 
scarcely  a  moment  that  was  free  from  excruciating 
pain.  Yet  amid  all  this  he  contrived  to  put  into  his 
career  some  of  the  noblest  work  which  his  generation 
saw,  and  he  had  a  quiet  happiness,  and  sometimes 
even  a  brimming  humor,  that  were  quite  remarkable. 
Returning  in  his  later  days  from  spending  the  evening 
with  some  friends,  his  daughter  said  to  him,  "  Father, 
you  did  not  enjoy  yourself  much  to-night,  T  fear." 
"Yes,"  was  the  reply,  "I  enjoy  everything.  I  enjoy 
everything " ;  and  no  man  who  knew  Robert  Hall 
could  doubt  that  he  spoke  the  truth.  Here  again, 
then,  my  dear  friends,  I  place  before  you  the  materials 
for  coming  to  a  decision  on  this  great  question.  If 
you  wish  your  lives  to  resemble  the  course  of  the  sun, 
rising  in  beauty,  going  forth  in  power,  and  shining 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day ;  if  you  would 
have  your  death  resemble  his  setting  ;  if,  like  him, 
you  would  go  down  in  a  sea  of  glory  and  set  only  to 
shine  on  in  the  firmament  of  the  world  beyond,  then 
cling  to  the  cross  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  culti- 
vate that  soberness  of  mind  which  he  enjoys :  but  if 
you  desire  to  waste  your  strength,  to  paralyze  your 
intellect,  and  to  destroy  your  soul  eternally,  you  will 
give  yourself  to  the  constant  pursuit  of  "  the  pleasures 
of  sin."  There  was  once  a  king  in  Jerusalem  who 
sounded  every  "  depth  and  shoal "  of  pleasure,  and 
drank  of  every  cup  of  human  joy.  If  there  be  any 
element  of  permanent  satisfaction  in  life  apart  from 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  SIN.  135 

God  he  miglit  have  found  it,  for  with  every  possible 
advantage  he  made  a  deliberate  search  after  it,  and 
still  returned  with  this  melancholy  result :  "  Vanity  of 
vanities,  all  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit."  Listen 
to  him,  my  young  hearer,  if  you  will  not  hearken  unto 
me ;  listen  to  him,  as,  worn  and  v/eary  and  wounded 
too,  from  his  lifelong  pursuit,  he  cries  back  to  you, 
half  in  mocking  irony  and  half  in  deep,  painful,  sol- 
emn earnestness :  "  Kejoice,  O  young  man,  in  thy 
youth,  and  let  thy  heart  cheer  thee  in  the  day  of  thy 
youth,  and  walk  in  the  ways  of  thine  heart  and  in  the 
sight  of  thine  eyes,  but  know  that  for  all  these  things 
God  will  bring  thee  into  judgment  with  him." 

February  38,  1875. 


AFFLICTION  AS  RELATED  TO  LIFE. 

Isaiah  xxxviii.  IG. — 0  Lord,  by  tlieso  things  men  live. 

The  song  from  wliicli  these  words  are  taken  was 
stricken  out  of  tlie  lieart  of  Hezekiali  by  a  remarkable 
personal  experience.  Just  after  tlie  destruction  of  the 
host  of  Sennacherib  which  had  been  laying  siege  to 
Jerusalem  he  was  prostrated  by  a  dangerous  malady, 
the  result,  most  probably,  of  the  fatigue,  excitement, 
and  anxiety  which  came  upon  him  in  connection  with 
the  defense  of  his  capital  from  the  Assyrian  invader. 
At  first  it  would  seem  that  he  had  little  apprehension 
as  to  the  issue  of  his  illness,  but  when  the  prophet 
Isaiah  told  him  that  his  disease  was  mortal,  and 
bade  him  set  his  house  in  order,  his  heart  sank  within 
him.  He  had  just  escaped  a  great  peril ;  the  Lord 
had  given  him  a  marvelous,  yea,  miraculous,  deliver- 
ance, and  so  he  might  naturally  conclude  that  there 
was  still  before  him  an  earthly  future  in  which  he 
might  do  much  for  the  consolidation  of  his  kingdom, 
for  the  revival  of  religion  among  his  people,  and  for 
the  honor  of  Jehovah,  But  now  all  these  hopes  were 
dashed  to  the  ground  ;  the  cherished  purpose  of  his 
lieart  was  apparently  frustrated  ;  his  work  was  to  re- 
main forever  unfinished  ;  and  as  he  thought  on  these 
things  he  "  turned  his  face  toward  the  wall,  and 
prayed  unto  the  Lord  and  wept  sore."  He  could  not 
understand  God's  dealings  with  him.  "Why  had  he 
been  delivered  from  Sennacherib  if  he  was  thus  and 
now  to  be  removed  ?     To  what  end  had  been  his  in- 


AFFLICTION  AS   RELATED   TO  LIFE.  137 

auguration  of  spiritual  reforms  among  Lis  subjects  if 
lie  was  to  be  cut  down  before  they  could  be  carried 
tbrougli  ?  It  was  as  if  the  bird  sliould  be  shot  in  the 
middle  of  its  song ;  or  as  if  the  fabric  of  the  weaver 
should  be  taken  from  the  loom  before  the  j)attern 
which  he  was  working  had  been  finished ;  and  so  his 
plaint  shaped  itself  into  an  individual  solo  in  that 
great  dirge  of  Ethan  the  Ezrahite  :  "  Wherefore  hast 
thou  made  all  men  in  vain  ?  " 

But  as  he  lay  thus  tearfully  communing  with  his 
own  heart  and  with  God,  Isaiah  returned  to  his  cham- 
ber with  a  message  of  healing  assuring  him  that  he 
should  go  up  to  the  temple  on  the  third  day,  and 
sealing  the  prediction  by  the  wonderful  sign  of  the 
going  back  of  the  shadow  ten  degrees  on  the  sun- 
dial of  Ahaz. 

So  it  all  came  about  through  the  use  of  the  means 
which  the  prophet  had  prescribed  ;  and  Hezekiah  im- 
proved the  first  hours  of  his  recovery  for  the  writing 
of  this  song,  which,  after  pensively  rehearsing  his 
musings  while  he  lay  looking  death  in  the  face,  breaks 
forth  at  length  into  glad  thanksgiving  for  his  restora- 
tion to  health,  and  for  the  addition  of  fifteen  years  to 
his  earthly  life.  Yet  sincere  as  the  song  is,  he  did  not 
conceive  that  the  chanting  of  that  was  all  the  gratitude 
he  owed,  for  he  recognized  that  through  his  experi- 
ence he  had  received  a  new  ideal  of  life,  and  he  made 
it  his  deliberate  resolution  to  keep  that  before  him  in 
all  his  after  conduct.  This  is  the  thought  that  lies 
beneath  the  words  of  my  text.  They  refer  primarily, 
indeed,  to  God's  promises  to  Hezekiah  while  he  was  in 
affliction,  and  their  performance  to  him  in  his  restora- 
tion to  health  ;  but  they  indicate,  also,  that  from  this 
time  on  life  had  become  a  nobler,  grander,  more  im- 
portant thing  in  his  view  than  it  had  ever  been  before  ; 


138  ATTLICTION  AS  RELATED   TO  LITE. 

and  tliey  carry  in  tliem  the  unexpressed  purpose  that 
he  would  thenceforth  seek  not  mere  existence,  but 
that  service  of  God  in  which  nothing  is  lost,  but  every- 
thing that  seems  to  us  fragmentary  and  temporary 
finds  its  ultimate  completion  and  its  sure  permanence. 
Thus  the  sentiment  of  Hezekiah  is  akin  to  that  of  the 
words  with  which  Christ  repelled  the  first  temptation 
in  the  wilderness,  "  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone, 
but  by  every  word  of  God ; "  and  he  made  the  discovery 
of  its  truth  through  the  discipline  of  his  illness  and 
recovery. 

But  he  is  not  by  any  means  singular  in  this  resjDect, 
for  wherever  affliction  has  been  truly  sanctified  to  a 
man  he  can  say  precisely  what  is  here  expressed ;  and 
that  aspect  of  the  subject  is  important  enough  to  fur- 
nish the  theme  for  our  discourse  to-day.  The  con- 
ception and  quality  of  life  as  affected  by  the  discipline 
of  any  form  of  trial — that  is  the  topic  for  the  morning. 

Let  us  take  first  the  conception  of  life  as  a  whole, 
and  see  how  that  is  modified  or  altered  by  experiences 
like  those  through  which  Hezekiah  passed.  I  enter 
not  here  into  scientific  theories  of  the  nature  or  the 
origin  of  life.  It  is  my  privilege  from  this  place  to 
view  the  matter  in  a  moral  and  spiritual  light,  and,  so 
regarded,  I  do  not  fear  contradiction  when  I  affirm 
that  they  who  have  had  no  such  critical  experience  in 
any  form  have  never  fully  awakened  to  the  difference 
which  there  is  between  mere  existence  and  life.  In 
sleep  there  is  as  real  existence  as  when  we  are  awake  ; 
but  what  a  paltry  thing  life  would  be  if  it  were  to  be 
a  constant  sleep  !  Yet  there  are  those  among  us  in 
whom,  though  their  time  may  be  busily  occupied  and 
though  their  intellects  may  be  keen  and  vigilant,  the 
spirit  slumbers ;  and  who  know  as  little  of  life  in  its 


APIXICTION  AS   RELATED   TO  LIFE.  139 

noblest  sense  as  if  their  years  were  passed  in  uncon- 
sciousness. They  are  like  the  land-owner  on  whose 
estate  there  is  an  undiscovered  silver  mine,  who  is  no 
richer  for  his  hidden  wealth,  and  who  cannot  be  said 
even  to  possess  it.  Nothing  has  come  to  reveal  them 
to  themselves,  or  to  give  them  any  vivid  sense  of 
the  existence  of  God  and  their  relationship  to  him. 
Nothing  has  opened  their  eyes  to  the  possibilities  of 
life  that  are  yet  undeveloped  in  them.  One  day  has 
been  to  them  like  another ;  and  the  unbroken  mo- 
notony of  their  experience  has  fostered  in  them  the  ex- 
pectation that  things  will  always  continue  with  them 
as  they  have  always  been.  Thus  they  verify  the 
psalmist's  words,  "  Because  they  have  no  changes, 
therefore  they  fear  not  God."  But  when  something 
like  that  which  came  to  Hezekiah  comes  to  them,  then 
there  is  a  thorough,  if  also  a  rude,  awakening,  and  they 
discover  that  they  have  yet  to  begin  to  live.  One  may 
easily  see  this  exemplified  in  the  votary  of  pleasure. 
He  has  merely  vegetated  through  existence.  The 
pampering  of  his  tastes,  or  the  gratification  of  his 
apjpetites,  or  the  enjoyment  of  society,  constitutes  for 
him  the  chief  good,  but  when  an  arrest  is  laid  upon 
him  by  disease,  and  he  is  prostrated  in  helplessness 
and  compelled  to  look  God  and  eternity  in  the  face, 
he  is  made  to  feel  that  he  has  nothing  to  show  for  his 
existence,  and  that  he  must  stand  before  the  awful 
judgment-seat  with  not  even  so  much  as  a  handful  of 
leaves  instead  of  that  which  ought  to  have  been  the 
fruitage  of  a  life.  Ah !  with  what  earnestness  from 
such  an  one  does  Hezekiah's  prayer  ascend  :  "  O  Lord, 
I  am  oppressed,  undertake  for  me  "  ;  and  how  he  dis- 
covers at  length  that  in  all  these  things  is  the  life  of 
his  spirit ;  nay,  if  he  desires  recovery,  it  is,  like  the 
Jewish  king,  that  te  may  be  made  to  live  indeed.     At 


140  AFFLICTION  AS  RELATED  TO  LIFE. 

such  a  time  there  comes  to  him  a  revelation  of  the 
hollowness  of  worklly  pleasure  like  that  which  was 
given  to  Mrs.  Winslow  in  the  ball-room  when  the 
words  of  the  catechism  were  flashed  into  her  soul — 
"Man's  chief  end  is  to  glorify  God,  and  enjoy  him  for- 
ever "  :  and  that  is  for  him  the  birth-hour  of  a  new  life. 
Or  take  the  case  of  him  whose  object  in  existence 
has  been  the  accumulation  of  Avealth.  He  has  thought 
of  nothing  but  how  he  may  increase  his  hoard.  Suc- 
cess has  continually  attended  his  exertions,  and  per- 
haps, like  the  fool  in  the  parable,  he  was  saying  to 
himself,  "  Thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for  many 
years  :  eat,  drink  and  be  merry,"  when  God's  hand  was 
laid  upon  him,  and  he  discovered  that  he  could  take 
nothing  of  his  property  with  him  into  the  world  be- 
yond. Then  he  found  out  that  true  wealth  consists  in 
what  a  man  is  and  not  in  what  a  man  has ;  then  he 
saw  the  relation  of  the  life  that  now  is  to  that  which 
is  to  come  as  he  never  did  before  ;  then  he  found  that 
his  occupation  in  the  past  had  been  as  foolish  as  that 
of  him  who  neglects  the  body  for  the  sake  of  the  rai- 
ment, and  he  arose  with  a  new  ideal  for  his  life — add- 
ing his  attestation  to  the  truth  of  the  words  of  my 
text,  "  By  these  things  men  live ;  and  in  all  these 
things  is  the  life  of  my  spirit."  In  how  many  instances 
has  a  serious  illness,  or  a  terrible  business  humiliation, 
or  a  trying  domestic  bereavement,  when  the  world 
seemed  going  from  beneath  him,  and  he  was  left  alone 
"  in  the  blank  and  solitude  of  things "  to  face  eter- 
nity and  God,  brought  a  man  to  revise  his  theory  of 
life  !  He  has  risen  from  his  couch  to  seek  forgiveness 
for  the  past  from  God  in  Christ,  and  to  consecrate 
himself  to  the  service  of  his  generation  by  the  will  of 
God.  He  has  come  to  regard  this  earthly  life  as  but 
the  portal  to  the  life  immortal.     He  has  rectified  the 


AFFLICTION  AS  BELATED  TO   LIFE.  141 

perspective  of  his  existence,  and  has  been  led  to  value 
the  now  for  its  bearing  on  the  hereafter ;  the  present 
for  its  motherhood  of  the  future ;  and  if  sometimes, 
as  in  the  case  of  a  Loyola,  the  issue  has  not  been  all 
unmingled  blessing,  still  it  has  aroused  to  thought- 
fulness  ;  it  has  changed  existence  from  spiritual  som- 
nambulism to  waking  earnestness  ;  it  has  turned  the 
attention  from  external  accumulation  to  internal  char- 
acter ;  it  has  opened  the  ear  to  the  voice  of  the  Eter- 
nal, and  stirred  the  heart  with  ambitions  that  rise  to 
those  things  which  are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  at 
God's  right  hand ;  and  if  that  be  true,  we  may  surely 
say — By  these  things  men  live. 

II.  But  passing  now  to  the  quality  of  the  life,  we 
may  see  how  that,  also,  is  affected  by  such  experiences 
of  affliction.  And  here  so  many  features  of  that  which 
we  call  character  are  either  evoked  or  developed  by 
trial  that  all  I  can  do  is  to  make  a  selection  from 
them,  and  illustrate  what  seem  to  me  the  more  impor- 
tant. There  is,  for  example,  the  element  of  strength, 
whether  in  its  passive  exercise  as  patient  endurance, 
or  in  its  active  manifestation  as  persevering  energy. 
The  poet  has  caught  the  truth  which  now  I  mean  to 
emphasize  when  he  bids  his  readers  "learn  to  suffer 
and  be  strong."  He  who  has  known  no  affliction  is 
easily  worn  out.  A  little  thing  puts  him  out.  The 
child,  who  has  had  small  experience  of  the  world,  is 
discouraged  by  a  tiny  difflculty,  and  depressed  by  a 
light  affliction.  A  little  trouble  seems  tremendous  to 
one  who  has  known  nothing  but  prosperity.  The  old 
sailor  who  has  been  all  but  shipwrecked  is  not  dis- 
mayed by  a  summer  squall,  for  he  says,  "  I  have  been 
in  worse  than  this  ; "  neither  does  he  give  up  even  in 
extremities,  for  he  remembers  that  he  has  been  brought 


142  AFFLICTION  AS  RELATED  TO  LIFE. 

through  before,  and  he  is  energetic  to  the  last.  Now 
it  is  the  same  with  life  as  a  whole.  You  will  find  the 
strongest  characters  always  among  those  who  have  been 
most  sorely  afflicted.  In  the  home  where  sudden  and 
alarming  illness  enters  it  is  usually  the  healthiest  and 
hardiest  who  are  the  most  upset ;  and  not  unfrequently 
they  are  so  distressed  as  to  be  practically  useless  in 
the  emergency.  They  have  lost  their  balance  for  the 
time.  They  have  no  readiness  in  resource ;  no  quiet- 
ness of  spirit ;  no  presence  of  mind ;  no  control  over 
themselves  or  others.  But  if  there  be  one  there  who  has 
herself  passed  through  the  fire  ;  who  has  herself  been, 
it  may  be,  for  days  of  suspense  on  the  very  border- 
land between  the  two  worlds  ;  she  is  equal  to  the  occa- 
sion ;  she  knows  where  to  look  for  succor ;  and  placing 
her  hand  in  God's,  she  is  at  once  steadied  and  upheld 
for  duty.  With  inflexible  resolution  she  commands 
herself  into  control ;  sees  what  is  to  be  done,  and  has 
it  accomplished  while  others  are  indulging  in  the  lux- 
ury of  tears.  Her  face  is  a  benediction  to  the  sufferer, 
and  her  silent  energy  is  stronger  for  work  and  for 
helpfulness  than  the  ruddy  health  of  him  whose  emo- 
tion has  overmastered  him,  and  showed  how  weak  he 
is  despite  his  physical  muscularity.  So  it  is,  also,  in 
business.  The  man  who  has  joassed  through  one  panic 
keeps  a  level  head  in  the  next.  He  knows  that  loss  of 
fortune  is  not  the  greatest  calamity  that  can  come 
upon  him,  and  he  sees  through  the  storm  to  the  calm 
that  is  beyond.  He  has  fathomed  the  experience,  and 
looked  the  worst  in  the  face,  and  that  gives  him  the 
composure  and  the  collectedness  which  enable  him  to 
grapple  successfully  with  the  difiiculties  of  the  hour. 
But  the  same  thing  holds  in  spiritual  matters.  Luther 
was  wont  to  say  that  his  three  great  teachers  were 
prayer,  study,  and  trial ;  and  any  reader  of  his  life  can 


AITLICTION  AS   RELATED   TO   LIFE.  143 

perceive  tliat  if  lie  liad  been  required  in  tlie  early  part 
of  liis  career  to  face  some  of  the  dangers  wlticli  men- 
aced liim  at  a  later  date  he  would  have  faltered  in  his 
course.  But  thrpugh  the  minor  experience  he  gained 
strength  for  the  severer  ordeal  ;  and  so  it  came  about 
that  what  would  have  appalled  him  at  the  outset 
made  almost  as  little  impression  on  him  at  the  last  as 
"the  whistling  of  the  idle  wind  that  he  regarded  not." 
If,  then,  strength  of  character  be  a  desirable  thing  we 
ought  to  be  reconciled  to  the  afflictions  by  which  alone 
it  can  be  developed.  They  are  to  the  soul  what  the 
tempering  is  to  the  iron,  giving  it  the  toughness  of 
steel,  and  the  endurance,  too  ;  and  if  that  be  so  we  may 
surely  say  regarding  them — "By  these  things  we  live." 
Then,  again,  we  can  see  that  exj)eriences  like  this  of 
Hezekiah  have  a  great  influence  in  producing  unself- 
ishness in  a  man.  I  distinguish  here,  however,  be- 
tween a  short,  sharp,  critical  illness  which  brings  a 
man  to  the  brink  of  the  grave,  and  out  of  which  he  is 
raised  almost  as  if  from  the  dead,  and  a  long  life  of 
feebleness.  I  admit  that  in  some  cases  of  the  latter 
description  there  is  a  tendency  to  the  development  of 
selfishness.  Every  one  in  the  house  so  habitually 
ministers  to  the  comfort  of  the  confirmed  invalid  that 
lie  is  tempted  to  regard  such  service  as  a  thing  of  right, 
and  is  prone  to  consider  himself  as  the  great  center 
of  the  home,  who  should  be  thought  of  before  all  others. 
I  know,  indeed,  that  this  is  by  no  means  universal ; 
for  I  have  seen  those  who,  while  chained  to  their 
couches  for  long  periods  by  helplessness,  have  been 
lying  planning  hour  by  hour  for  the  good  of  others. 
But  I  acknowledge  that  there  is  a  danger  of  selfishness 
incident  to  such  a  condition.  When,  however,  a  man 
has  been  in  the  very  grip  of  the  last  enemy,  and  has 
recovered  ;  or  has  been  within  a  little  of  losing  all  he 


144  AITLICTION  AS  RELATED  TO  LIFE. 

had,  and  has  escaped,  you  can  understand  how  such 
an  experience  sends  him  out  of  himself.     It  intensifies 
for  him  the  idea  of  life  as  a  stewardship  for  God,  and 
he    sees   the  folly  of  making  all  the  streams  of  his 
effort  run  into  himself.     He  reasons  thus  :     "  What  if 
I  had  died  ?  these  possessions  would  have  been  no 
longer  mine.     They  cannot,  therefore,  be  mine  in  the 
highest  sense  at  all,  for  that  which  is  mine  by  inalien- 
able  ownership  must  be   mine   throughout  eternity. 
But  if  they  are  not  inalienably  mine,  then  they  must 
be  intrusted  to  me  by  God,  and  I  must  use  them  for 
God  ;"  and  forthwith  he  begins  to  think  of  others,  and 
of  others  as  having  a  God-given  claim  upon  himself. 
What  is  true  thus  of  possessions,  he  extends  to  other 
things  ;  and  so  it  has  come  that  an  experience  like 
this  of  the  Jewish  king  has  shaken  many  a  man  out  of 
himself  and  set  him  to  think  of  living  for  the  good  that 
he  can  do  to  others.     Howard's  life  of  benevolence  was 
the  outcome  of  a  critical  illness  ;  and  of  multitudes 
more  than  of  him  it  can  be  said  that  they  sloughed  off 
their  selfishness  in  the  crucible  of  trial ;  while,  again, 
your  habitually   healthy   and    comfortable  man  who 
has  known  no  crisis  gives  little   heed  to  his  fellows, 
and  leaves  their  misery  unrelieved.     If  we  knew  the 
former  histories  of  all  the  men  who,  like  the  priest 
and  Levite,  pass   misery   by   on  the  other  side,  we 
might  discover  that  they  had  never  known  a  serious 
affliction,  and  had  never  been  brought  face  to  face 
with  God ;  while  the  good  Samaritans  who  bring  the 
needed  succor  have  been,  it  may  be,  oftener  than  once 
at  the  very  portals  of  that  world  into  which  nothing 
but  character  enters,  and  where  a  cup  of  cold  water 
given  to  a  disciple  for  the  sake  of   Christ    shall  in 
nowise   lose   its   reward.      The  man  who  has  really 
seen  death  comes  out  of  that  exj)erience,  if  at  least 


AFFLICTION   AS   BELATED   TO   LIFE.  145 

it  lias  been  sanctified  to  him,  clisenclianted  with 
himself,  and  feeling  that  his  very  life  is  itself  a  trust 
which  God  has  given  him  for  the  service  of  his  gener- 
ation! Thus,  afiliction  of  some  sort  seems  to  be 
requisite  for  the  production  in  us  of  thoughtfulness 
for  others  ;  and  recognizing  the  value  of  that  element 
in  character  we  may  say  that  men  who  have  not 
known  affliction  have  not  yet  truly  begun  to  live. 

But  is  only  a  broadening  out  of  this  last  remark 
when  I  go  on  to  affirm  that  sympathy  is  born  out  of 
such  experiences  as  those  of  Hezekiah.  He  who  has 
passed  through  trial  can  feel  most  tenderly  for  those 
who  are  similarly  afflicted.  This  is  so  true  that  the 
inspired  writer  has  said  even  of  Jesus,  "  In  that  he 
himself  hath  sufifered  being  tempted,  he  is  able  also  to 
succor  them  that  are  tempted  ; "  and,  indeed,  in  one 
aspect  of  it,  the  very  necessity  for  the  Incarnation  is 
found  in  the  princij)le  which  I  have  just  enunciated. 
To  have  a  sympathizing  God  we  must  have  a  suffering 
Saviour,  and  there  is  no  true  fellow-feeling  with 
another  save  in  the  heart  of  him  who  has  been  af- 
flicted like  him.  Nay  more,  the  having  suffered  like 
another  impels  us  to  go  and  sympathize  with  him. 
Those  of  us  who  have  lost  little  children  feel  a 
prompting  within  us  to  speak  a  word  of  comfort  to 
every  parent  who  is  passing  through  a  similar  expe- 
rience. Indeed,  it  was  in  connection  with  an  affliction 
of  that  sort  that  my  attention  was  first  drawn,  some 
twelve  years  ago,  to  the  text  of  this  discourse.  I  had 
just  a  few  weeks  before  buried  a  beloved  daughter,  the 
light  of  the  household,  and  the  darling  of  all  in  it,  and 
had  gone  to  attend  a  meeting  of  Synod  where  an  hon- 
ored minister,  who  had  been  through  the  same  trial 
oftener  than  once  before,  came  up  to  me  and  took  me 
by  the  hand,  and  said  to  me,  with  a  reference  to  my 
7 


146  AFFLICTION  AS   EELATED   TO   LIFE. 

sorrow,  "  By  tliese  things  men  live."  That  was  all, 
but  each  successive  year  since  then  has  given  a  new 
verification  of  his  words,  for  oh  !  how  often  in  the 
interval  have  I  been  enabled  to  comfort  others  with 
the  comfort  with  which  I  have  been  comforted  of 
God,  and  the  efficacy  of  the  consolation  lay  largely  in 
the  fact  that  it  was  offered  by  one  who  had  proved  its 
value  for  himself.  We  cannot  do  good  to  others  save 
at  a  cost  to  ourselves,  and  our  own  afflictions  are  the 
price  we  pay  for  our  ability  to  sympathize.  He  who 
would  be  a  helper  must  first  be  a  sufferer.  He  who 
would  be  a  saviour  must  somewhere  and  somehow  have 
been  upon  a  cross  ;  and  we  cannot  have  the  highest 
happiness  of  life  in  succoring  others  without  tasting 
the  cup  which  Jesus  drank,  and  submitting  to  the  bap- 
tism wherewith  he  was  baptized.  Every  real  Barnabas 
must  pass  to  his  vocation  through  seasons  of  personal 
sorrow, — and  so,  again,  we  see  that  it  is  true  that  "  by 
these  things  men  live."  The  most  comforting  of 
David's  psalms  were  pressed  out  of  him  by  suffering  ; 
and  if  Paul  had  not  had  his  thorn  in  the  flesh  we  had 
missed  much  of  that  tenderness  which  quivers  in  so 
many  of  his  letters. 

But  this  train  of  thought  leads  naturally  up  to  my 
last  remark  here,  namely,  that  experiences  like  Heze- 
kiah's  have  much  to  do  with  the  usefulness  of  a  man's 
life.  Usefulness  is  not  a  thing  which  one  can  com- 
mand at  will.  It  is,  in  most  cases,  the  result  of  a  dis- 
cipline ;  and  is  possessed  by  those  who  in  a  large  de- 
gree are  unconscious  that  they  are  exercising  it.  It 
depends  fully  more  on  what  a  man  is  than  on  what  he 
does,  or,  if  it  is  due  to  what  he  does  or  says,  that 
again,  is  owing  very  much  t6  what  he  is,  and  what  he 
is  now  has  been  determined  by  the  history  through 
which  he  has  been  brought.     You  see  that  in  the  case 


AITLICTION  AS  BELATED   TO  LIFE.  147 

of  a  physician.  His  experience  goes  far  more  to  the 
making  of  him  than  liis  college  training  has  done. 
That,  indeed,  if  it  has  been  worth  anything,  has  mainly 
taught  him  how  to  utilize  his  exjaerience  ;  and  the 
difference  between  one  medical  man  and  another  de- 
pends very  largely  indeed  on  the  history  and  practice 
of  each.  Now  it  is  so,  also,  in  spiritual  things.  The 
helpfulness  of  another  to  us  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
Christian  life  is  determined  more  by  his  personal  ex- 
perience than  by  his  intellectual  pre-eminence,  and  thus 
it  happens  often  that  an  humble  and  largely  disciplined 
disciple,  or  what  we  call  an  "  exercised"  Christian,  may 
be  more  useful  to  us  than  an  eloquent  preacher.  Here, 
too,  as  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  secret  of  the  difference 
between  one  man  and  another  in  the  matter  of  pulpit 
power.  Few  things,  indeed,  are  so  humiliating  to  those 
oj  us  whom  God  has  called  to  public  positions  in  his 
church  as  to  hear  anatomical  critics  ask,  "  What  is  the 
secret  of  his  power  ?  "  One  will  say  that  it  is  in  his 
voice  ;  another  that  it  is  in  his  manner ;  another  that 
it  is  in  his  aptitude  of  illustration  ;  another  that  it  is  in 
his  personal  appearance  ;  and  still  another  that  it  is  in 
his  literary  taste  and  simplicity  of  style  ;  while  some, 
perhaps,  will  resolve  it  all  into  that  vague  thing  which 
they  call  magnetism,  and  some  into  his  earnestness. 
But  scarcely  one  will  think  of  the  history  that  is  be- 
hind the  sermon,  or  of  the  experience  out  of  which  it 
has  been  born :  but  there,  in  the  discipline  through 
■which  God  has  brought  him,  and  which  no  other 
man  can  acquire  by  any  effort,  is  the  hiding  of  his 
peculiar  power ;  there  is  the  root  of  his  spiritual  use- 
fulness. The  discourses  which  find  others  are  those 
which  have  been  struck  out  of  him  by  the  crises 
through  which  God  has  brought  him  ;  and  that  same 
discipline  having  sent  him  into  his  own  soul  has  given 


148  AITLICTION  AS   RELATED   TO   LITE. 

liim  in  the  knowledge  of  liimself  a  key  to  tlie  hearts 
of  others,  so  that  before  they  know  it  he  has  entered 
them  and  taken  j)ossession  of  them  for  his  Lord. 
When  one  reads  Eobertson  of  Brighton's  life  he 
comprehends  the  power  of  his  discourses  ;  and  this  is 
a  power  which  no  theological  seminary  can  develojD,  for 
it  is  conferred  by  God  through  personal  discipline.  It 
is  the  power  of  the  heart  rather  than  of  the  head  ;  the 
power  of  character  rather  than  ability  ;  the  power  of 
experience  rather  than  of  rhetoric.  Ezekiel  was  made 
a  sign  to  the  people  through  the  loss  of  his  wife  ;  and 
the  usefulness  of  many  men,  both  in  the  pulpit  and 
out  of  it,  ]ias  had  its  roots  in  similar  discipline.  Ah ! 
it  is  a  costly  price,  and  yet  "  by  these  things  men  live." 
But,  not  to  dwell  longer  on  the  effect  produced  by 
such  experiences  on  different  qualities  of  character,  I 
must  add  one  word  of  caution.  It  is  not  every  afflic- 
tion that  works  out  such  results ;  and  whether  any 
trial  will  do  so  or  not  depends  entirely  on  the  spirit 
in  which  it  is  borne.  Only  they  who,  like  Hezekiah, 
turn  to  God  under  it  receive  blessing  through  it.  A 
man  may  be  sent  to  Jabbok,  and  feel  himself  in  utter- 
most solitude,  but  unless  while  he  is  there  he  wrestles 
with  the  Lord  it  will  not  be  to  him  Peniel,  and  he  will 
go  away  from  it  less  serious  and  spiritually  impres- 
sionable than  he  was  before.  One  cannot  be,  after 
such  a  crisis,  precisely  as  he  was  before  it  came  upon 
him.  If  he  turn  to  God  under  it,  he  will  be  the  better 
of  it,  for  it  will  give  for  him  a  new  significance  to  life, 
and  work  out  in  him  some  quality  of  character  in 
which  before  he  was  deficient.  But  if  he  is  not  the 
better  for  it  he  will  be  the  worse.  If  he  does  not  apply 
to  God  for  deliverance  out  of  it  or  grace  under  it  he 
will  be  hardened  by  it,  and  be  more  indifferent  to  the 
great  spiritual  realities  than  ever.     When,  therefore,  I 


AFFLICTION  AS   RELATED  TO   LITE.  149 

say  as  the  outcome  of  our  morning's  meditation  not 
only  that  an  experience  like  this  of  Hezekiah  is  a  bless- 
ing, but  also  that  the  absence  of  such  an  experience 
in  a  man's  history  is  the  greatest  of  all  misfortunes, 
my  words  are  to  be  taken  with  the  qualification  that 
under  it  he  draws  near  to  God.  That  is  the  hinge 
on  which  it  all  turns.  An  afiliction  so  borne  will 
always  bring  forth  fruit  in  giving  a  new  quality  to  our 
character,  and  a  new  power  to  our  life  ;  but  if  we  refuse 
to  acknowledge  God  in  such  a  crisis  we  shall  come  out 
of  it  cold,  callous,  impassive,  and  mayhap  defiant ;  and 
it  will  be  a  curse  to  us,  and  not  a  blessing. 

April  18, 1880. 


OPPOETUNITIES  AND  THEIR  LIMIT. 

Jkremiah  xviii.  3,  4.  3  Then  I  went  down  to  the  potter's  house, 
and,  behold,  he  wrought  a  work  on  the  wheels. 

4  And  the  vessel  that  he  made  of  clay  was  marred  in  the  hands  of 
the  potter  :  so  he  made  it  again  another  vessel,  as  seemed  good  to  the 
potter  to  make  it. 

Jeremiah  xix,  1,  2,  10,  11. — 1  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Go  and  get  a 
potter's  earthen  bottle,  and  talce  of  the  ancients  of  the  people,  and  of 
the  ancients  of  the  priests. 

2  And  go  forth  unto  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Ilinnom,  which  is  by 
the  entry  of  the  east  gate,  and  proclaim  there  the  words  that  I  shall 
tell  thee. 

10  Then  shalt  thou  break  the  bottle  in  the  sight  of  the  men  that  go 
with  thee. 

11  And  shalt  say  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  Even 
so  will  I  break  this  people  and  this  city,  as  one  brcaketh  a  potter's 
vessel,  that  cannot  be  made  whole  again  :  and  they  shall  bury  them, 
in  Tophet,  till  there  he  no  place  to  bury. 

The  chapters  from  wliicli  these  two  texts  are  taken 
slioiild  be  read  and  studied  together  if  we  wish  to  get 
a  complete  view  of  the  one  subject  of  which  they  both 
treat.  They  should  be  set  also  in  the  framework  of 
the  history  to  which  they  originally  refer,  in  order 
that  through  the  interpretation  of  them  which  that 
supj)lies  we  may  discover  the  principles  of  permanent 
importance  which  underlie  them,  and  of  which  the 
case  to  which  the  prophet  applied  them  was  only  a 
single  illustration.  Some  little  attention  may  be  re- 
quired to  secure  this  intelligent  apprehension  of  these, 
I  fear,  too  sadly  neglected  portions  of  sacred  Scri2:)t- 
ure,  but  the  result  will  be  fraught  with  instruction 


OPPORTUNITIES  AND   THEIR  LIMIT.  151 

and  admonition  to  us  all,  and  will  more  than  repay- 
any  effort  that  may  be  needed  for  its  attainment. 

In  the  former  of  the  chapters  Jeremiah  tells  tis  that 
at  the  suggestion  of  the  Divine  Spirit  he  went  to  a 
potter's  house  and  saw  a  workman  moulding  a  vessel 
upon  the  wheels.  Even  as  he  was  looking,  something 
went  wrong  Avith  the  clay  that  was  under  the  potter's 
hand.  It  was  "  marred."  He  discovered  something 
in  it  which  made  it  unfit  for  the  purpose  for  which  he 
had  originally  intended  it ;  but  he  did  not  throw  it 
aside  on  that  account,  for  it  was  still  soft  and  plastic 
to  his  touch,  and  so  he  made  it  into  another  sort  of 
vessel — less  honorable  and  less  valuable,  it  may  be, 
but  yet  useful — into  which  his  practiced  eye  saw  that 
it  might  still  be  turned.  Here  we  have,  therefore,  a 
work  still  in  process — still,  as  I  may  say,  in  the  clay 
— and  the  suggestion  is  that  so  long  as  that  impres- 
sionable condition  lasts,  if  the  result  first  aimed  at 
is  not  gained,  another,  though  perhaps  a  lower,  may 
yet  be  attained. 

In  the  latter  of  the  chapters  the  prophet  narrates 
that  he  was  commanded  to  take  a  potter's  bottle — not 
now,  you  observe,  in  the  formative  and  easily-molded 
state  of  clay,  but  fully  baked  and  hardened — and 
break  ifc  in  pieces  in  the  sight  of  certain  persons  whom 
he  was  to  lead  out  to  the  valley  of  Hinnom  that  they 
might  be  Avitnesses  of  his  action.  We  have  here, 
therefore,  not  a  manufacture  in  process,  but  the  de- 
struction of  a  finished  article  which  had  proved  to  be 
a  failure.  The  •  clay  had  been  made  into  a  bottle,  and 
the  bottle  had  been  hardened  in  the  fire.  Its  quality 
as  a  vessel  was  irrevocably  fixed  ;  and  as  it  had  turned 
out  to  be  good  for  nothing,  it  was  broken  in  pieces. 
It  was  no  longer  possible  to  make  it  into  something 
else,  and  therefore  no  further  pains  were  taken  with 


152  OPPOETUNITIES  AND  THEIE  LIMIT. 

it,  but  it  was  shivered  into  fragments  whicli  were  cast 
on  tlie  refuse  heap  that  had  accumulated  in  the  un- 
clean Tophet. 

When  we  put  these  two  symbolical  messages  of 
the  prophet  together  thus,  it  is  impossible  to  evade 
the  conclusion  that  there  is  a  most  intimate  connec- 
tion between  them,  and  we  begin  to  get  a  glimmering 
of  the  spiritual  truth  that  is  beneath  them.  But  when 
we  take  the  application  which  Jeremiah  makes  of 
each,  there  is  no  longer  any  room  for  doubt  upon  the 
subject.  Listen  to  these  words  connected  with  the 
first :  "  O  house  of  Israel,  cannot  I  do  with  you  as  this 
potter  ?  saith  the  Lord.  Behold,  as  the  clay  is  in 
the  potter's  hand,  so  are  ye  in  mine  hand,  O  house 
of  Israel.  At  what  instant  I  shall  speak  concerning  a 
nation,  and  concerning  a  kingdom,  to  j^luck  uj),  and 
to  pull  down,  and  to  destroy  it ;  if  that  nation  against 
whom  I  have  pronounced  turn  from  their  evil,  I  will 
repent  of  the  evil  that  I  thought  to  do  unto  them. 
And  at  what  instant  I  shall  speak  concerning  a  nation, 
and  concerning  a  kingdom,  to  build  and  to  plant 
it ;  if  it  do  evil  in  my  sight,  that  it  obey  not  my  voice, 
then  I  will  rejjent  of  the  good  wherewith  I  said  I 
would  benefit  them."  Then  take  the  following  in  re- 
lation to  the  second  :  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  : 
Even  so  will  I  break  this  people  and  this  city,  as  one 
breaketh  a  potter's  vessel  that  cannot  be  made  whole 
again  ;  and  they  shall  bury  them  in  Toi^het,  till  there 
be  no  place  to  bury."  Now  put  these  together  and 
you  get  the  inference  that  the  clay  in  the  one  case 
and  the  bottle  in  the  other  represent  the  house  of 
Israel — each,  however,  in  a  diflferent  stage  of  develop- 
ment. The  clay  denotes  the  educational  period,  when 
the  national  character  was  as  yet  only  in  process  of 
being  formed ;    the   bottle    symbolizes  the  hardened 


OPPOKTTINITIES  AND  THEIR  LIMir.  153 

determination  into  wliicli  that  character  ultimately 
settled ;  while  in  the  making  of  the  clay  into  another 
vessel  and  in  the  breaking  of  the  bottle,  we  have  set 
forth  the  difference  of  the  divine  treatment  of  the 
people  in  these  two  conditions.  But  (as  I  have  often 
reminded  you,  when  expounding  other  symbolical 
passages  of  the  word  of  God),  we  cannot  get  a  simile 
that  will  hold  in  every  particular,  and  here  there  is 
one  important  distinction  between  the  material  em- 
blems and  the  moral  beings  whom  they  are  used  to 
typify  which  must  never  be  overlooked.  Clay  is  an 
unconscious  piece  of  matter,  and  a  bottle  is  a  dead, 
senseless,  irresponsible  thing.  But  the  Israelites 
were  spiritual  and  responsible  beings,  dowered  with 
free  agency,  and  having  liberty  to  choose  what  they 
would  make  of  themselves.  The  marring  of  the  clay 
in  the  hands  of  the  potter,  therefore,  must  not  be 
misunderstood.  Literally,  that  is  not  a  thing  for 
which  the  clay  is  responsible  ;  nor  would  any  one 
blame  a  bottle  for  being  worthless.  But  as  here 
employed  these  things  are  to  be  taken  as  denoting 
results  produced  by  the  perversity  of  the  people  rep- 
resented by  the  clay  and  the  bottle.  The  marring 
of  the  lump  upon  the  wheel  signifies  no  mere  un- 
avoidable accident  in  the  history  of  the  nation,  but 
rather  a  deliberate  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  people 
to  throw  off  their  allegiance  to  Jehovah.  They  could 
never  do  that  in  any  degree  without  correspondingly 
injuring  their  ultimate  future.  But  if,  through  the 
expostulations  of  the  prophet,  they  repented,  and 
submitted  themselves  in  willing  obedience  to  the 
Lord's  commands,  then  they  would  still  remain  plas- 
tic as  clay ;  and  though  the  higher  ideal  had  been 
lost  by  them,  God  would  shape  another  future,  lower 

yet  still  useful  for  them,  as  it  pleased  him,  and  some- 

7* 


154  OPPORTUNITIES  AISOD  THEIR  LIMIT. 

tiling  good  would  yet  be  made  of  them  for  liis  glory 
and  for  tlie  welfare  of  men.  On  the  other  hand,  if  in 
spite  of  all  entreaty  they  hardened  themselves  into 
defiant  and  stubborn  rebellion  against  Jehovah,  they 
would  thereby  pass  from  the  soft,  yielding,  and  easily 
moldable  condition  of  clay  upon  the  wheel  into  the 
hard,  fixed,  and  unimprovable  state  of  a  fully-baked 
vessel  which  did  not  answer  its  purpose  ;  and  as  noth- 
ing else  could  be  made  of  them,  they  would  be  cast 
out  as  worthless,  and  consigned  to  irremediable  de- 
struction. 

Such  seems  to  be  the  significance  of  these  two  sym- 
bols ;  and  this  view  is  entirely  corroborated  by  the 
history  to  which  they  were  primarily  applied  by 
Jeremiah.  The  Jewish  nation  was  at  this  time  in  a 
most  deplorable  condition.  Originally  intended  by 
Jehovah  to  be  a  peculiar  people,  an  holy  nation,  a 
kingdom  of  j)i'iests,  and  the  witness  of  truth  to  the 
world  at  large,  it  had  refused  to  rise  to  that  high  voca- 
tion, and  had  chosen  to  become  like  the  neighboring 
states,  in  idolatry,  in  sensuality,  in  covetousness, 
and  in  unrighteousness.  The  clay  "  was  marred  upon 
the  wheel."  It  had,  therefore,  to  be  subjected  to 
another  treatment.  Never,  indeed,  could  it  fill  in  the 
noble  outline  which  had  at  first  been  marked  for  it ; 
but  still  there  might  be  yet  an  outcome  of  good  if  the 
people  would  but  submit  themselves  to  God  and  re- 
turn to  him.  And  many  of  them — indeed  most  of 
those  who  were  carried  into  caj)tivity  to  Babylon — 
did  thus  return  to  him.  They  were  the  "  soft  ductile 
clay,"  and  God  "  made  it  another  vesseL"  The  na- 
tion, indeed,  never  was  again  as  it  had  been  in  its 
palmy  days,  or  as  it  might  have  been  if  its  citizens 
had  been  true  to  God  all  through.  Its  kingly  power 
never  again  emerged ;  the  ark  of  the  covenant  was  no 


OPPORTUNITIES  AND   THEIR  LIMIT.  155 

longer  in  its  temple  ;  mncli  of  the  old  glory  was  hope- 
lessly gone.  Virtually  it  had  to  begin  anew  and  on  a 
lower  level.  But,  though  it  did  not  attain  the  lofty 
role  which  had  at  first  been  intended  for  it,  there  was 
still  a  great  future  in  store  for  it,  for  the  returned  ex- 
iles raised  a  platform  on  which  at  length  Messiah  was 
to  appear,  and  the  story  of  the  struggles  of  the  people 
under  the  Maccabees  was  to  be  full  of  inspiration  to 
multitudes  in  every  after  generation.  But  there  were 
others  among  the  people  who  would  take  no  advice  and 
heed  no  entreaty.  These  were  they  who  sided  with 
the  rebels  against  Babylon,  and  would  not  accept  God's 
discipline.  They  were  hardened  in  their  obstinacy 
and  stubborn  in  their  impenitence.  They  were  the 
misshapen  vessel  of  earthenware,  for  "they  had  re- 
jected God's  loving  chastisement,  had  refused  his 
mercy,  and  persisted  in  their  sins."  So  upon  them 
came  the  frightful  calamity  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
described  in  this  nineteenth  chapter  of  Jeremiah's 
prophecies,  when  God  "  broke  them  with  a  rod  of 
iron  and  dashed  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel." 
Nor  were  these  the  only  illustrations  furnished  by 
the  Jewish  nation  of  this  law  of  the  divine  administra- 
tion. We  see  the  same  thing  repeated  in  connection 
with  the  Saviour's  personal  ministry  in  Palestine. 
All  through  these  three  years  and  a  half,  the  clay, 
though  marred,  was  still  upon  the  wheel,  and  if  there 
had  been  any  repentance  among  the  people,  or  any 
willinghood  among  them  to  receive  Jesus  as  the  Mes- 
siah, they  might  have  been  formed  into  yet  another 
vessel,  and  risen '  once  more  into  prominence  among 
the  nations.  B^^t  they  elected  to  reject  Jesus  and  put 
him  to  death  upon  the  cross,  and  thereby  they  turned 
the  clay  into  a  worthless  piece  of  pottery  too  vile  for 
ornament,  too  ill-made  for  use,  and  too  hard  to  be  re- 


156  OPPOKTUNITIES  AND  THEIE  LIMIT. 

molded, — only  fit,  therefore,  to  be  cast  out  and  broken 
into  fragments. 

But  now,  having  a  firm  grasp  of  the  meaning  of  these 
two  symbolic  prophecies  in  their  primary  relation  to 
the  Jewish  nation,  let  us  distill  from  that  the  principles 
of  permanent  importance  which  it  contains.  They  are 
the  following :  First,  that  there  is  a  divine  ideal  pos- 
sible for  every  man  under  the  gracious  providence  of 
God ;  second,  that  this  ideal  is  attainable  by  him  only 
through  implicit  fa*ith  in  God,  and  willing  obedience 
to  all  his  commandments  ;  third,  that  if  this  faith 
and  obedience  are  refused  by  a  man,  his  history  is 
marred,  and  it  is  no  longer  possible  for  him  to  become 
what  otherwise  he  might  have  reached ;  fourth,  that 
if  the  man  should  repent  and  return  unto  the  Lord,  he 
may  still,  through  the  rich  forbearance  of  God,  rise  to 
a  measure  of  excellence  and  usefulness  which,  though 
short  of  that  which  was  originally  possible  to  him  and 
intended  for  him,  will  yet  secure  for  him  the  approval 
of  the  Most  High ;  and,  fifth,  that  if  the  man  harden 
himself  into  persistent  rejection  of  God,  and  show 
stubborn  impenitence,  there  comes  a  time  when  im- 
provement is  impossible,  and  there  is  nothing  for  him 
but  "  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power."  The  mere 
repetition  of  these  propositions  is  enough  to  show  you 
that  they  carry  us  into  th5.t  region  of  mystery  which 
enshrouds  the  great  questions  of  God's  sovereignty 
and  man's  free  agency.  But  I  do  not  propose  at  this 
time  to  enter  into  that  domain.  These  two  truths  are 
the  ultimate  boundaries  of  human  thought  on  all 
moral  questions.  We  cannot  get  rid  of  either,  and 
though  to  our  finite  minds  they  seem  utterly  inconsist- 
ent with  each  other,  yet  we  must  hold  them  both  in  ap- 


OPPORTUNITIES   AND   THEIR  LIMIT.  157 

parent  antagonism,  believing  that  full  knowledge,  if  it 
could  be  attained  by  us,  would  discover  their  harmony. 
No  matter  where  we  begin  in  our  cogitations  we  shall,  if 
only  we  go  far  enough,  come  up  against  one  or  the  other 
of  them,  and  then  all  farther  progress  is  arrested.  If 
we  confine  our  attention  to  the  divine  side,  we  shall 
find  ourselves  at  length  hemmed  up  by  the  purpose  of 
God ;  if  again  we  restrict  our  thoughts  to  the  human, 
we  shall  reach  our  ultimatum  in  the  free  agency  of  man. 
This  is  the  inevitable  result  of  our  limitation  as  creat- 
ures, for  only  God  can  fully  comprehend  God.  But 
while  that  is  most  true,  the  princi]3les  which  I  have 
deduced  from  the  two  symbolic  prophecies  of  Jeremiah 
are  exceedingly  valuable  as  serving  to  show  us  that 
there  is  nothing  in  the  human  freedom  that  subverts 
the  divine  sovereignty ;  and  that  there  is  nothing  in 
the  manner  in  which  God's  sovereignty  is  maintained 
that  destroys  human  freedom,  or  weakens  human  re- 
sponsibility. God  is  superintending  and  overruling 
all,  as  the  potter  is  manipulating  the  clay.  Yet  man 
has  the  choice  whether  or  not  he  will  submit  himself 
to  God,  even  as  the  Israelites,  who  were  symbolized  by 
the  clay,  had  the  liberty  to  determine  whether  or  not 
they  would  serve  Jeliovah  ;  and  it  is  to  me  a  most  inter- 
esting thought  that  the  question  "  O  house  of  Israel, 
cannot  I  do  with  you  as  this  potter  ?  "  was  put  by  God 
not  to  terrify  the  people  by  the  assertion  of  his  power 
to  destroy  them,  but  rather  to  encourage  them  to  re- 
pentance by  assuring  them  that  if  they  returned  to 
him  he  could  still  make  something  valuable  out  cf 
them,  even  as  the  workman  framed  a  serviceable  vessel, 
after  all,  out  of  the  clay  which  had  become  marred 
and  unfit  for  his  original  purpose.  But  leaving  all 
abstract  discussions,  let  us  attend  briefly  to  each  of 
the  propositions  which  I  have  enunciated. 


158  OPPOBTUNITIES  AND  THEIB  LIMIT. 

I.  There  is  a  divine  ideal  possible  for  every  man. 
God  has  not  made  any  man  simply  for  destruction.  I 
know  that  there  are  many  who  so  misrepresent  him  ; 
but  there  is  no  countenance  given  to  any  such  view  in 
the  sacred  Scriptures.  He  has  an  archetype  or  j)attern 
before  him,  which  it  is  possible  for  each  man  to  reach. 
What  that  is  may  be,  indeed  must  be,  different  for 
each.  There  was  one  ideal  possible  for  Egypt,  an- 
other for  Assyria,  and  another  for  Babylon,  with  their 
respective  privileges  and  opportunities,  and  quite  an- 
other for  Israel,  with  its  pre-eminent  advantages. 
These  other  nations  were  not  required  to  be  every- 
thing that  the  Jewish  people  ought  to  have  become. 
God  is  not  unrighteous  to  demand  equal  attainments 
from  unequal  gifts.  He  gives  to  one  five  talents,  to 
another  two,  and  to  another  one  ;  but  he  does  not  look 
at  last  for  ten  from  each  of  them.  And  what  is  true 
thus  of  nations  is  true  also  of  individuals.  He  has  one 
ideal  for  those  who,  like  ourselves,  are  favored  to  the 
full  with  gospel  blessings ;  and  another  for  such  as 
have  not  our  original  advantages.  But  there  is  a  pos- 
sible result  that  shall  be  worthy  of  his  approval  for 
each ;  and  that  each  may  reach  that,  has  been  his 
original  and  primary  design  in  the  creation  of  each. 
I  enter  not  now  into  the  question  why  there  are  these 
original  inequalities  in  the  case  of  men,  for  I  do  not 
think  any  one  ban  solve  tliat,  and  I  content  myself 
with  simply  marking  their  existence,  as  connected  with 
the  ideal  that  is  possible  for  each.  That  ideal  is  not 
the  same  for  all,  but  it  is  in  each  appropriate  to  and 
in  correspondence  with  the  environment  in  which  he 
is  placed. 

II.  This  ideal  is  to  be  attained  by  a  man  only 
through  implicit  faith  in  God  and  willing  obedience 


OPPORTUNITIES  AND  THEIR  LIMIT.  159 

to  liis  commands.  It  was  a  profound  saying  of  a  great 
philosopher  in  regard  to  physical  things  that  "  we 
command  nature  by  obeying  her."  He  meant,  for  ex- 
ample, that  by  complying  with  the  requisite  conditions 
in  electricity,  we  can  command  that  agent  to  do  our  work. 
And  similarly  we  may  affirm  that  we  command  God 
by  obeying  him.  I  should  hardly  have  dared,  I  con- 
fess, to  use  that  expression  if  I  had  not  found  in  the 
writings  of  the  ancient  prophet  such  words  as  these, 
"Concerning  the  work  of  my  hands  command  ye  me." 
But  you  are,  I  hope,  in  no  danger  of  misunderstanding 
my  meaning.  By  obeying  God  we  secure  his  approval 
and  co-operation  with  us  and  in  us  by  his  Spirit  for 
the  attainment  of  that  which  he  has  designed  to  make 
us.  Here  again,  however,  we  are  to  bear  in  mind  that 
the  commandments  of  God  do  not  mean  the  same  for 
all  men.  Those  who  as  yet  have  never  received  the 
books  of  revelation  have  still  certain  commandments, 
or  what  Paul  calls  a  law,  written  in  their  hearts ;  and 
if  they  obey  these  they  will  rise  to  the  divine  ideal 
for  them.  Whether  any  of  them  have  ever  done  so  I 
dare  not  affirm,  but  that  it  is  possible  for  them  to  do 
so  seems  to  me  evident :  and  if  they  do,  they  will  be 
judged  according  to  their  light,  and  approved  for  what 
they  have  accomplished.  But  we,  who  have  in  our 
hands  the  living  oracles  of  God,  need  not  spend  time 
in  speculation  about  them.  It  would  be  much  more 
profitable  for  us,  and  becoming  in  us,  to  improve  our 
own  opportunities.  Now  here  we  are  told  that  we  shall 
reach  that  which  God  has  designed  for  us  through 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  implicit  submis- 
sion of  our  intellects,  and  hearts,  and  wills,  and  lives 
to  him.  The  great  question  for  us,  therefore,  is 
whether  or  not  we  have  thus  given  ourselves  up  and 
over  to  his  service,  for  only  thereby  can  we  rise,  each 


160  OPPORTUNITIES  AND  THEIR  LIMIT. 

in  liis  own  place  and  after  his  own  pattern,  to  what 
Paul  has  called  "  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 
fullness  of  Christ."  Ah!  when  we  try  ourselves  by 
this  test,  must  we  not  all  admit  that  we  have  fallen 
below  the  divine  ideal  for  us,  or,  as  the  great  apostle 
has  expressed  it,  "  that  we  have  come  short  of  the 
glory  of  God,"  that  is,  that  we  have  come  short  of 
giving  such  an  illustration  of  the  wisdom  and  love  of 
God  in  the  fashioning  of  our  characters  as  otherwise 
might  have  been  seen  in  us  ? 

III.  This  brings  me  to  the  third  proposition,  for- 
merly enunciated,  namely,  that  if  such  faith  and  obe- 
dience are  refused  by  a  man,  that  man's  history  is 
marred,  and  it  is  no  longer  possible  for  him  to  be- 
come what  otherwise  he  might  have  been.  That 
is  seen  by  us  every  day  in  common  life.  The  youth 
who  trifles  through  those  years  which  ought  to  have 
been  devoted  to  education,  may  possibly,  as  the  say- 
ing is,  "  take  himself  uj) "  in  after  days,  but  he  can 
never  attain  such  a  position  as  might  easily  have 
been  his  if  he  had  been  diligent  all  through  the 
formative  period  of  early  life.  And  the  same  thing 
holds  morally.  Sin  mars  the  divine  ideal  for  a  man. 
It  deprives  him  of  the  full  advantage  of  the  skill  and 
help  of  God  in  the  develojDmeut  of  his  character.  It 
is  no  longer  possible  even  for  God,  in  consistency  with 
the  moral  nature  of  his  government,  to  make  of  him 
all  that  was  originally  attainable  by  him.  Look,  for 
example  here,  to  such  men  as  Balaam,  and  Saul,  and 
Judas,  and  you  will  see  how  true  it  is  that  sin  mars 
the  realization  of  a  noble  and  possible  future.  What 
a  character  Balaam  might  have  become,  with  his  pro- 
phetic insight  and  his  poetic  soul,  if  only  he  had  kept 
true  to  his  convictions  !  but  the  clay  was  marred,  and 


OPPORTUNITIES  AND  THEIE  LIMIT.  161 

tlie  man  who  miglit  else  have  been  a  noble  example, 
now  serves  only  as  a  beacon  of  warning.  How  pos- 
sible, too,  it  was  for  Saul  to  have  been  almost  a  model 
king !  He  had  great  kindness  shown  him  by  Jehovah. 
Samuel,  also,  was  drawn  in  quite  a  wonderful  manner 
to  him,  and  as  we  read  the  history  of  his  prowess  in 
the  matter  of  Jabesh-gilead,  we  feel  that  he  only  just 
missed  becoming  great,  and  missed  it  because  he  pre- 
ferred his  own  way  to  God's.  And  Judas,  too  :  what 
might  he  not  have  been  as  an  ajDostle,  with  all  his 
privileges  and  opportunities  ?  But  the  clay  was  marred 
under  the  divine  potter's  hands,  and  because  he  chose 
the  things  of  the  world  in  preference  to  obedience  to 
Christ,  he  who  might  have  been  a  son  of  consolation 
became  the  son  of  perdition.  Ah  !  how  many  among 
us  are  at  this  moment,  by  their  characters  and  jDosi- 
tions,  living  illustrations  of  the  truth  that  if  we  refuse 
to  obey  God's  commands  and  receive  Jesus  as  our  only 
Redeemer,  Lawgiver  and  King,  we  make  the  loftiest 
life  impossible  for  us !  God  help  us  to  lay  this  solemn 
thought  to  heart. 

IV.  But  now,  fourthly,  if  the  man  should  repent  and 
return  to  the  Lord,  he  may  yet,  through  the  rich  for- 
bearance of  God,  rise  to  a  measure  of  excellence  and 
usefulness,  which,  though  short  of  that  which  was 
originally  possible  to  him  and  intended  for  him,  will 
secure  the  approval  of  the  Most  High.  This  is  the 
gem  thought  of  these  two  chapters.  If,  having  dis- 
covered the  cause  of  our  failure  in  our  sins,  we  turn 
from  these  and  give  ourselves  up  to  God,  he  will  yet 
make  something  out  of  us  worthy  of  himself  and  full 
of  joy  and  encouragement  to  ourselves.  Observe 
again,  I  beseech  you,  that  question,  "  O  house  of 
Israel,  cannot  I  do  with  you  as  this  potter  ?  "  and  re- 


162  OPPORTUNITIES  AND  THEIR  LIMIT. 

member  it  was  meant  to  encourage  the  people  to  go 
back  to  God,  with  the  assurance  that  it  was  still  pos- 
sible for  him  to  make  something  good  out  of  them. 
But  they  said  (look  at  the  12th  verse  of  the  18th 
chapter)  :  "  There  is  no  hope ;  but  we  will  walk  after 
our  own  devices,  and  we  will  every  one  do  the  imagina- 
tion of  his  evil  heart."  Ah !  that  is  a  true  word  of 
Paul,  "We  are  saved  by  hope."  These  Jews  had  no 
hope,  and  therefore  they  went  farther  and  farther 
down.  Jeremiah  tried  to  rekindle  hope  in  them  by 
this  illustration  of  the  potter,  but  it  was  in  vain; 
they  refused  to  receive  his  message,  and  hardened 
themselves  into  uttermost  obstinacy, — and  then  came 
destruction.  Now  let  me  hold  up,  clear  and  distinct, 
this  hope  to  sinners  before  me  this  morning :  There 
is  no  need  to  despair  yet.  If  you  are  willing  to  re- 
turn to  God  in  Christ,  he  is  able  to  work  out  in  you 
and  bring  out  through  you  something  of  nobleness  and 
holiness.  There  will  always  be  in  you  and  about 
you,  indeed,  the  marks  of  your  former  lives ;  but  God 
has  you  yet  upon  the  wheel,  and  he  will  make  you 
"  another  vessel  as  it  pleases  him."  Think  here  of 
such  a  case  as  that  of  Manasseh.  The  son  of  the  good 
Hezekiah,  he  might,  had  he  walked  steadily  in  his 
father's  footstejDS,  have  become  one  of  the  noblest  of 
Jewish  monarchs.  But  he  gave  himself  up  to  idolatry 
and  sank  into  the  most  debasing  sins.  At  length 
the  judgment  came  and  he  was  carried  off  to  Babylon. 
There,  in  thought  and  prayer  and  penitence,  he  re- 
turned to  God  ;  and  the  Lord,  making  another  vessel 
of  him,  restored  him  to  Jerusalem  and*  his  throne. 
He  never  became  what  had  been  at  first  possible  for 
him,  but  he  did  become  another  and  a  better  man ; 
and  his  name  stands  out  on  the  historic  page  as  a  strik- 
ing proof  that  even  although  one  has  gone  far  astray 


OPPORTUNITIES  AND  THEIR  LIMIT.  163 

he  may  yet,  tlirougli   God's  grace  and  by  returning 
unto  bim,  become  a  worthy  man  and  be  finally  ac- 
cepted.    But  why  need  we  go  so  far  back  as  Manas- 
seh's  days  for  illustrations  of  this  truth?     We  may 
find  many  in  our  own  generation.     Probably,  even  as 
I  speak,  each  of  you  has  some  such  case  with  which 
he  is  acquainted  recalled  vividly  to  his  remembrance. 
There  may  even  be  some  here  whose  personal  ex- 
perience confirms  my  words.     I  think  of  John  Newton 
in  the  pulpit,  doing  a  noble  work  for  God  and  men 
in  spite  of  his  early  sins  and  shameful  habits.     He 
was  never  such  a  man  as  he  might  have  been  had  he 
been  all  through  his  days  truly  devoted  to  his  God, 
but  he  was  a  good  and  useful  man  after  all,  saved  by 
grace  through  faith  in  Christ  and  repentance  unto  life. 
I  think  of  some,  not  far  away  from  us,  who,  after  years 
in  prison,  have  found  their  Avay  through  Christ  back 
to  God,  and  are  now — though  the  mark  of  the  old  life 
may  be  seen  yet  very  clearly  stamped   upon   their 
countenances — living  earnestly  for  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  salvation  of  men.     I  think  of  others,  long  enslaved 
by  intemperance,  and  even  yet  feeling  degraded  at  the 
thought  of  what  but  for  it  they  might  have  been,  but 
now  emancipated  from  the  thraldom  of  habit,  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  through  faith  in  Jesus,  and 
living  mainly  "  for  the  good  that  they  can  do."     And 
with  such  cases  before  me,  I  proclaim  the  willingness 
of  God  to  save  all  who  penitently  turn  to  him,  and 
to  make  them  vessels  of  mercy  which  he  will  "  prepare 
for  his  glory."     Let  no  one  go  away  saying  there  is 
no  hope.     If  there  is  the  least  prompting  within  you 
to  return — though  it  may  be  faint  as  the  spark  in  the 
smoking  flax,  or  feeble  as  the  strength  in  the  bruised 
reed — that  is  an  evidence  that  you  are  not  yet  hard- 
ened into  impenetrability  ;  and  if  you  yield  to  its  im- 


164  OPPORTUNITIES  AND  THEIR  LIMIT, 

pulse  tliere  is  One  who  will  receive  you  and  renew 
you,  and  make  you  yet  noble  and  honorable  before 
liim,  a  trophy  of  his  grace ;  aye,  it  may  be — let  me 
carry  out  the  figure  of  my  texts — a  cup  in  which  he 
will  hold  the  living  water  of  his  refreshment  to  the 
lips  of  many  weary  ones  among  your  fellow-men. 
Return,  then,  O  return  to  him,  and  he  will  "  form  you 
all  anew." 

V.  Our  last  proposition  is  that  if  the  man  harden 
himself  into  persistent  rejection  of  God  and  show  stub- 
born impenitence,  there  comes  a  time  when  improve- 
ment is  no  longer  possible,  and  there  is  nothing  for 
him  but  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord  and  the  glory  of  his  power.  The  clay  that 
was  plastic  was  made  into  another  vessel;  but  the 
bottle  tliat  was  burned  into  hardness  and  was  found 
to  be  Avorthless  was  broken  into  pieces  and  cast  out. 
So  when  impenitence  is  perversely  persisted  in  there 
comes  a  point  at  which  the  heart  is  so  hardened 
thereby  that  repentance  is  neither  thought  of,  nor 
jDrompted  to,  nor  desired,  and  the  man  is  abandoned 
to  perdition.  And  where,  do  you  ask,  is  that  point  ? 
I  answer  that  I  cannot  in  every  case  precisely  tell. 
It  may  be  even  in  the  present  life,  in  some  instances. 
It  was  so,  I  cannot  but  think,  in  the  case  of  Saul,  for 
when,  having  finally  given  up  God,  he  went  for  help  to 
the  cave  of  Endor,  and  Samuel  aj)i)eared  to  him,  as 
much  to  the  alarm  of  the  woman  as  to  his  own,  he 
heard  only  words  of  doom.  He  had  gone  to  the  wrong 
resort.  Had  he  but  turned  to  God,  we  may  be  sure 
that  there  would  have  been  something  in  the  future 
for  him  still.  So  again  in  the  case  of  Belshazzar, 
when  Daniel  came  in  haste  to  decipher  the  writing  on 
the   wall  he   read  out  only  words  of  condemnation. 


OPPORTUNITIES  AND   THEIR  LIMIT.  165 

He  spoke  notlimg  now,  as  before  lie  had  done  to  Neb- 
uchadnezzar, of  the  duty  of  breaking  off  sin  by  right- 
eousness, but  merely  said,  "  Thou  art  weighed  in  the 
balances  and  found  wanting.  God  hath  numbered  thy 
kingdom  and  finished  it."  With  these  cases  in  mind, 
therefore,  I  must  afiirm  that  this  point  of  transition 
between  the  ductility  of  the  clay  and  the  hardness  of 
the  burned  bottle  may  be  passed  by  a  man  even  in  this 
life,  though,  I  must  also  add,  that  it  is  not  yet  passed 
by  any  one  who  has  a  prompting  to  repentance  within 
him,  and  a  desire  to  return  to  God  and  become  other 
than  he  is.  But  if  I  may  not  speak  with  certainty 
concerning  this  life,  if  indeed  I  must  speak  with  cau- 
tion regarding  the  point  on  which  I  have  just  touched, 
I  have  no  hesitation  regarding  the  end  of  this  proba- 
tion for  all,  for,  as  I  read  the  Scriptures,  the  whole 
trend  and  tenor  of  their  teaching  go  to  prove  that 
after  death  there  is  no  possibility  of  changing  char- 
acter, for  then  the  clay  is  no  longer  on  the  wheel,  and 
the  God-given  opportunities  are  ended.  Then  the 
vessel  is  taken  to  its  place  of  honor  in  the  heavenly 
palace,  or  cast  out  to  its  place  of  dishonor  and  de- 
struction in  the  abysmal  Tophet.  I  know  that  there  is 
a  great  deal  of  very  loose  thinking  current  in  these 
days  about  what  is  called  "  probation  after  death." 
But  the  Bible  has  nothing  in  it  which  seems  to  give 
the  least  countenance  to  any  such  thing.  And  the 
course  of  thought  along  which  we  have  travelled  this 
morning  cuts  at  the  root  of  the  reason  plausibly  as- 
signed by  many  for  their  advocacy  of  this  opinion. 
It  is  said  that  every  man  must  have  a  probation  some- 
where, and  therefore  that  those  who  have  had  no  pro- 
bation on  earth  are  entitled  to  it  after  death.  But 
who  are  they  who  have  had  no  probation  on  earth  ? 
Are  they  infants  ?    Then,  if  they  are  to  be  put  on  trial, 


166  OPPOETUNITIES  AND   THEIR  LIMIT. 

and  tlierefore  in  jeopardy,  after  deatli,  millions  of  be- 
reaved parents'  liearts  will  leap  up  in  indignant  pro- 
test at  such  an  idea,  and  eacli  will  say,  "  My  gathered 
lambs  are  folded  in  the  Good  Shepherd's  arms  :  I  want 
none  of  your  speculations  that  shall  speak  as  if  they 
were  still  in  danger."  Nay  more,  if,  without  personal 
probation,  they  suffered  death  because  Adam  sinned, 
I  want  to  know  why  without  a  personal  probation  they 
may  noc  enjoy  eternal  life,  since  Jesus  Christ  died  for 
them  and  rose  again?  The  same  principle  applies  to 
idiots.  We  are,  therefore,  restricted  to  the  heathen. 
But  are  we  quite  sure  that  they  have  no  j)robation  be- 
fore death?  Is  the  presentation  of  the  gospel  neces- 
sary to  a  probation  ?  If  that  be  alleged,  then  I  want 
to  know  on  what  authority  the  statement  is  made  ?  I 
find  nothing  of  that  here  in  Scripture.  On  the  con- 
trary I  find  that,  as  I  have  already  said,  the  ideal 
for  each  man  is  different,  and  that  the  ultimate  char- 
acter of  each  will  be  gauged  by  his  opportunities  and 
what  he  has  made  of  them,  such  as  they  were.  "  They 
that  have  sinned  without  law  "  shall  not  be  judged 
by  a  law  of  which  they  knew  nothing :  but  they  shall 
be  judged  none  the  less  according  to  the  light  which 
they  possessed ;  and  what  is  that  but  saying  that  this 
life  is  for  them  also  a  probation  ?  No  man,  therefore, 
has  a  right  to  affirm  that  any  human  being,  come  to 
years  of  discretion,  on  the  earth,  has  not  had  a  proba- 
tion here.  All  have  not  equal  privileges.  That  is  true 
even  in  places  where  the  gosjjel  is  enjoyed  ;  and  it  is 
more  largely  true,  of  course,  when  we  take  in  the  race 
as  a  whole.  But  equal  opportunities  for  all  are  not 
essential  to  a  j)robation  for  each.  If  they  were,  then 
no  one  of  us  here  could  say  that  we  have  even  now  a 
probation,  for  there  are  inequalities  in  the  talents 
given  to  each  of  us,  and  in  the  opportunities  afforded 


OPPORTUNITIES  AND   THEIR  LIMIT.  167 

US  for  tlieir  improvement.  Thus  we  see  that  the  as- 
sumption that  some  men  have  no  probation  here  lies 
at  the  root  of  this  modern  heresy ;  and  that,  as  I  have 
shown  you,  is  an  assumption  of  what  is  false.  There- 
fore do  not  let  your  soul  be  drugged  by  this  opiate. 
Do  not  dream  of  probation  after  death.  Even  if  it 
were  true  that  such  a  thing  were  to  be  given  to  the 
heathen,  there  would  still  be  no  hope  for  you.  And 
so,  while  you  may,  before  the  day  of  grace  ends  and 
the  door  of  opportunity  is  shut,  return  to  the  Lord  by 
faith  in  Jesus  and  in  obedience  unto  him. 

I  conclude  with  a  word  of  exhortation  especially 
addressed  to  the  young.  I  have  tried  to  show  you 
this  morning  that  the  marring  of  sin  will  prevent  you 
from  reaching  the  highest  excellence  of  character  in 
life,  and  I  have  pointed  out  also  that,  though  you  may 
afterward  turn  to  God,  the  result,  at  last,  will  be 
short  of  that  which  otherwise  you  might  have  gained. 
How  important  it  must  be,  therefore,  to  give  your- 
selves to  God  in  Christ,  with  the  first  dawnings  of  your 
moral  intelligence !  Keep  away,  I  beseech  you,  from 
all  youthful  follies  and  early  sins ;  for,  even  if  you 
should  repent  of  them  afterward,  you  will  suffer 
either  some  positive  evil  or  some  negative  privation 
in  consequence.  Depend  upon  it,  God  will  make  you, 
in  some  way,  to  possess  the  sins  of  your  youth.  Pre- 
serve, I  implore  you,  the  first  freshness  of  your  early 
innocence,  and  seek  to  maintain  your  young  sensitive- 
ness of  conscience,  for  if  you  once  lose  these,  you  will 
never  in  the  future  be  what  otherwise  you  might  have 
become.  You  may  have  pardon  through  the  blood  of 
Christ,  and  sanctification  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  and 
usefulness,  too,  by  the  grace  of  Christ,  but  you  will 
find  that  something  has  gone  forever  from  you,  and 
that  some  other  things  are  forever  unattainable  by 


168  OPPOETUNITIES  AND  THEIK  LIMIT. 

you.  When  you  pluck  a  flower  in  tlie  summer  morn- 
ing all  sparkling  with  clewdrops,  if  you  shake  these  off 
you  will  never  form  them  again.  You  may  pour  water 
on  it  a  thousand  times,  but  never  again  can  you  put 
back  on  its  opening  leaves  those  "  bright  orbicular  dia- 
monds "  as  they  sparkled  so  gloriously  in  the  early 
sunbeam.  So,  if  you  go  into  youthful  sins,  you  can 
never  regain  all  that  you  have  lost  thereby.  Another 
vessel,  by  God's  grace,  may  yet  be  shaped  upon  the 
■wheel,  but  it  will  be  lowlier  and  less  honorable  than 
that  which  you  have  marred.  Therefore,  give  your- 
selves now  to  Christ  and  become  early  adherents  of 
that  religion  of  which  one  of  the  characteristics  is  that 
it  keeps  itself  "unspotted  from  the  world." 

December  10,  1883 


THE  HAEVEST  OF  RETRIBUTION  AND 
REWARD. 

Gal.  vi.  7,  8.  Be  not  deceived.  God  is  not  mocked  ;  for  what- 
soever a  man  soweth,  tliat  shall  he  also  reap.  For  he  that  soweth  to 
his  flesh,  etc. 

It  is  oue  of  the  characteristics  of  Paul  that  he  en- 
forces the  commonest  duties  by  the  highest  motives. 
When  he  urges  the  Corinthians  to  make  a  contribu- 
tion for  the  poor  saints  at  Jerusalem,  he  drives  home 
his  appeal  by  these  words :  "  For  ye  know  the  grace 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  though  he  was  rich,  yet 
for  your  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  ye  through  his 
poverty  might  be  rich,"  When  again  he  vindicates 
himself  from  the  accusation  of  fanaticism  which  his 
enemies  had  made  against  him  he  says:  "Whether 
we  be  beside  ourselves,  it  is  to  God ;  or  whether  we 
be  sober,  it  is  for  your  cause,  for  the  love  of  Christ 
constraineth  us  ;  because  we  thus  judge  that  if  ho 
died  for  all,  then  these  all  died ;  and  that  he  died  for 
all  that  they  which  live  should  not  henceforth  live 
unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  which  died  for  them 
and  rose  again."  His  habit  thus  was  to  run  up  the 
separate  actions  of  his  life  to  great  principles,  by 
which  they  were  dominated,  and  in  accordance  with 
which  they  were  regulated.  The  poet  has  reminded 
us  that  in  the  material  universe, 

"  That  very  law  which  molds  a  tear 
And  bids  it  trickle  from  its  source, 
That  law  preserves  the  earth  a  sphere 
And  holds  the  planets  in  tlieir  course  ;  " 


170      THE  HAEVEST  OF  EETEIBUTION  AND  EEWAED. 

and  mucli  in  the  same  way  the  apostle  shows  that 
the  great  fact  of  our  redemption  by  Jesus  Christ  should 
affect  the  little  things  of  our  benevolence  and  our 
manner  of  speech  as  really  as  the  great  things  of  our 
life-aim  and  our  bearing  at  certain  crucial  and  deci- 
sive turning  points  in  our  history.  The  background 
of  his  life  was  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  from  that  every 
action,  whether  to  human  view  important  or  the  re- 
verse, drew  its  inspiration  and  acquired  its  momentum. 
But  if  the  Cross  was  the  background  of  his  life,  the 
future  state  was  its  environment.  That  enswathed  it, 
as  the  sky  enswaths  the-  landscape.  This  earthly  ex- 
istence was  for  him  "  rounded  "  with  eternity,  and  he 
had  learned  to  view  the  conduct  of  '  now '  in  its  relation 
to  the  great  hereafter.  So  he  was  continually  refer- 
ring to  the  future  as  a  warning,  or  a  test,  or  an  en- 
couragement in  the  present.  The  two  great  facts  in 
the  world's  history  to  him  were  the  first  and  second 
comings  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  two  great 
doctrines  on  which,  to  him,  all  others  dejDended,  and 
which,  in  his  view,  stood  equally  related  to  all  our 
actions,  though  in  different  ways,  were  redemption  and 
retribution.  In  the  midst  of  his  sufferings  he  found 
support  in  looking  back  to  the  obligation  under  which 
he  lay  to  Christ,  and  solace  in  looking  forward  to  the 
time  when  he  should  be  clothed  upon  with  his  house 
which  is  from  heaven.  Again,  when  he  was  dealing 
with  those  who  had  fallen  away,  the  saddest  aspect  of 
their  guilt  was,  in  his  eyes,  that  they  were  the  enemies 
of  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  the  most  awful  thing  about 
their  destiny  was  that  their  end  is  destruction.  Thus 
these  doctrines,  as  he  held  them,  were  not  mere  dry, 
dogmati  cstatements,  but  rather  omnipresent  and  all- 
pervading  motives  which  influenced  everything  he  said, 
or  wrote,  or  did. 


THE  HAEVEST  OF  BETREBUTION  AND  EEWAED.   171 

Accordingly  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  that  the 
words  of  my  text  stand  in  immediate  connection 
with  the  command  that  ministers  of  the  gospel 
should  be  liberally  supported  by  those  whom  they 
instruct.  That  is  a  commonplace  duty,  but  it  is 
lifted  by  Paul  into  eternal  importance,  when  he  links 
it  on,  as  here,  directly  and  immediately  to  the  doctrine 
of  retribution ;  for  then  we  are  reminded  that  in  the 
way  in  which  we  deal  with  it  we  must  sow  either  to 
the  flesh  or  to  the  spirit,  and  reap  either  corruption 
or  everlasting  life.  Now,  though  my  business  this 
morning  is  mainly  with  the  doctrine  itself,  I  cannot 
helj)  showing  you  thus,  in  the  very  outset,  how  it  is 
to  be  applied  to  all  things  in  that  conduct  which,  ac- 
cording to  a  recent  writer,  is  "  three-fourths  of  life." 
Paul's  faith  in  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments did  not  lie  dormant  in  his  soul,  like  a  forgotten 
article  of  furniture  in  a  dusty  attic.  It  was  a  living 
and  active  principle.  And  his  life,  as  a  whole,  was 
not  "  a  fortuitous  concourse  "  of  actions,  but  the  out- 
come, in  individual  details,  of  those  two  great  truths 
which  he  held  in  the  grasp  of  a  firm  and  intelligent 
belief,  namely,  that  "  we  are  bought  with  a  jjrice  "  and 
that  "  we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ  that  every  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in 
his  body,  according  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it 
be  good  or  bad."  Behind  him  always  was  "the  cross 
of  Christ";  before  him  always  was  "the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ."  He  never  forgot  either ;  and  every 
portion  of  his  conduct  was  affected  by  them  both.  It 
was  not,  therefore,  an  exceptional  thing  with  him  to 
enforce  such  a  common  and  ordinary  duty  as  the  sup- 
port of  a  minister,  by  such  an  overwhelming  motive  as 
that  which  is  furnished  by  the  doctrine  of  retribution. 
Kather  we  may  say  that  the  importance  of  the  doc- 


172     THE  hAkyest  of  retribution  and  reward. 

trine,  in  his  view,  is  attested  by  this  incidental  appli- 
cation of  it.  He  is  not  here  systematically  and  argu- 
mentatively  reasoning  it  out.  It  is  to  him  one  of  the 
most  absolute  of  certainties,  not  more  nearly  bearing 
on  ministerial  supjDort  than  on  other  duties,  but  bear- 
ing on  that  as  really  as  on  others  ;  and  so  his  refer- 
ence to  it  here  is  a  proof  of  the  fact  that  the  present 
life,  and  all  in  it,  was  for  him  the  germ  of  eternity, 
and  was  invested  thereby  with  an  infinite  significance. 
Leaving,  then,  the  duty  in  connection  with  which  the 
words  of  my  text  were  originally  written,  let  us  attend 
to  the  doctrine  which  they  teach. 

I.  And  in  the  first  place  they  declare  that  the  relation 
between  our  life  here  and  our  condition  hereafter  is 
that  which  exists  between  seed  and  the  crop  that 
springs  from  it.  What  that  is  it  might  be  very  dif- 
ficult for  us  scientifically  to  explain ;  yet  even  the 
youngest  among  us  knows  something  of  its  distinct- 
ive j)eculiarity.  There  is  in  everything  that  can  be 
rightly  called  a  seed  a  certain  germinant  quality,  so 
that  when  it  is  put  into,  or  "  sown  "  in,  appropriate 
soil,  it  begins  to  sprout,  and,  under  favoring  circum- 
stances, ends  in  the  reproduction  of  itself,  not  alone  as 
a  unit,  but  manifold.  An  acorn  and  a  stone  differ 
from  each  other  in  many  respects,  but  the  fact  that 
the  one  when  planted  in  the  earth  produces  an  oak- 
tree  and  other  acorns,  and  that  the  other,  though  sub- 
jected to  the  same  treatment,  undergoes  no  change, 
but  remains  simply  and  only  a  stone,  marks  the  one 
as  a  seed  and  the  other  as  not  a  seed.  Moreover,  as 
Paul  reminds  us  in  his  well-known  argument  on  the 
resurrection,  God  "has  given  to  every  seed  its  own 
body,"  that  is  to  say,  each  produces  its  own  fruit.  A 
fir-tree  does  not  spring   from   a   chestnut,  neither   a 


THE   HAEYEST   OF  EETEIBUTION  AND   REWAED.       173 

beecli-tree  from  a  pine-cone.  If  you  sow  corn  you  do 
not  expect  to  reap  wheat ;  and  if  you  plant  an  orchard 
with  apple-trees  you  do  not  look  to  see  plums  upon 
their  branches.  Or,  as  the  Lord  himself  has  put  it, 
using  the  analogy,  however,  for  another  purpose,  "  Of 
thorns  men  do  not  gather  figs,  nor  of  a  bramble-bush 
gather  they  grapes." 

There  is  here  a  great  unchanging  and  unchange- 
able law.  Each  seed  produces  its  own  body,  be- 
cause God  has  so  ordained.  That  which  we  reap 
from  off  the  fields  of  nature  is  always  of  the  samo 
kind  with  that  which  we  have  sown.  No  sane  man, 
even  if  he  should  be  the  most  unquestioning  be- 
liever in  the  transmutation  of  species,  would  expect  a 
crop  of  valuable  grain  from  an  inclosure  which"  he 
had  sown  with  tares  ;  and  every  husbandman  when  he 
plants  his  corn  does  so  in  the  confidence  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  uniformity  of  nature's  operations,  he  will 
have  a  harvest  of  the  same.  He  has  no  manner  of 
doubt  about  it.  There  may  be  sometimes  a  question 
in  his  mind  during  a  long  drought  as  to  whether  he 
shall  have  a  larger  or  smaller  crop,  possibly  even  as 
to  whether  he  shall  have  a  crop  at  all ;  but  he  knows 
that  if  he  have  any  crop,  it  shall  be  of  the  same  kind 
as  that  which  he  has  planted.  On  the  plane  of  mate- 
rial nature,  then,  every  one  understands,  admits,  and 
acts  upon  this  principle  as  an  absolute  law  admitting 
of  no  exceptions — "  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that 
shall  he  also  reap." 

Now,  with  these  facts  before  us,  we  are  in  a  posi- 
tion to  understand  what  is  meant  when  it  is  said 
that  our  life  here  bears  to  our  condition  hereafter 
the  same  relation  which  seed  does  to  that  which 
springs  from  it.  For  one  thing  it  means  that  our 
thoughts,  words   and   actions  here  have   in   them   a 


174   THE  HAEVEST  OF  KETRIBUTION  AND  REWAED. 

seminal  and  germinating  principle.  They  are  not  like 
a  handful  of  gravel  which,  scattered  over  the  earth,  re- 
mains gravel  and  nothing  else  ;  but  they  are  seeds 
which,  wherever  dropped,  are  falling  into  a  soil  where- 
on, at  length,  there  shall  appear  a  harvest  that  shall 
be  of  the  same  kind  as  themselves.  Have  you  ever 
thought  of  this,  my  hearers  ?  There  is  a  principle  of 
life  and  reproduction  in  everything  that  the  soul  with- 
in you  does,  and  in  the  harvest  of  the  future  you  must 
reap  that  which  has  sprung  vip  and  ripened  therefrom. 
We  may  not  be  able  quite  to  realize,  at  first,  all  that 
this  implies.  But  there  are  experiences  in  the  present 
life  which  may  assist  us  to  arrive  at  a  more  adequate 
conception  of  its  solemn  import.  Thoughts  tend  to 
reproduce  themselves.  He  who  admits  a  holy  sug- 
gestion into  his  mind  will  find  that  ever  more  in  the 
pauses  of  life,  and  sometimes,  too,  even  in  its  bustle 
and  business,  things  allied  to  that  sacred  meditation, 
and  indeed  developed  by  it,  will  steal  into  the  current 
of  his  consciousness  and  fill  his  soul  with  their  re- 
freshing influence.  Indeed  it  is  just  in  this  way  that 
the  devotions  of  the  closet  come  at  length  to  hallow 
the  entire  day  ;  the  seeds  sown  in  that  hour  so  quickly 
germinate  that  the  life  is  perfumed  by  the  fragrance 
of  their  blossoming.  But  the  same  thing  is  true  on 
the  other  side.  Let  a  man  take  in  an  evil  thought, 
and  it  will  constantly  reproduce  itself  within  his  mind, 
and  either  torment  him  with  its  ever-recurring  loath- 
someness, or  draw  him  away  with  its  seductive  influ- 
ence. The  sight  of  an  impure  painting ;  the  reading 
of  a  bad  book ;  the  hearing  of  a  song  in  which  the 
witchery  of  music  is  wedded  to  the  vice  of  sensuous- 
ness,  will  keep  returning  to  the  memory,  either  as 
something  to  be  battled  with,  or  as  an  influence  that 
■will  finally  conquer  us — and  this  is  all  owing  to  the 


THE  HAEVEST  OF  RETRIBUTION  AND  REWARD.       175 

fact  tHat  thought  is  seminal  and  reproductive.  So  in 
regard  to  words.  They  are  not  dead  things — like 
counters  in  a  game,  to  which  some  have  compared 
them.  In  a  very  holy  sense  the  Lord  Jesus  has  said 
in  his  parable,  "  The  seed  is  the  word,"  but  it  is  no 
less  true  that  every  word  is  a  seed.  It  rep^'oduces 
itself  either  in  blessing  or  in  curse.  Do  you  want 
an  illustration?  Then,  take  the  case  of  the  profane 
swearer,  and  you  will  see  how  from  the  root  of  his 
first  oath  all  his  black  blasphemy  has  sprung  until  he 
is  so  much  a  slave  to  his  evil  habit  as  hardly  to  be 
conscious  of  the  utterance  of  those  things  which  send 
a  shudder  through  the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  While 
again,  on  the  other  hand,  the  speech  of  the  good  man 
increases  in  attractiveness  with  his  constant  practice 
of  reverence. 

What,  indeed,  is  the  great  law  of  habit,  when  you 
come  to  think  it  out,  but  just  another  form  of  the 
l^rinciple  of  my  text,  "Whatsoever  a  man  soweth, 
that  shall  he  also  reap "  ?  And  that  question  may 
fitly  introduce  us  to  the  thought  that  our  actions,  as 
well  as  words,  are  reproductive.  You  know  how  true 
that  is  in  the  case  of  the  victim  of  strong  drink, 
and  the  votary  of  gambling.  But  these  cases  are  only 
lai^ge  type  illustrations  of  what  is  seen,  if  we  care  to 
look  for  it,  in  other  actions.  That  which  we  have  done 
recurs  to  us  either  to  haunt  us  as  remorse,  or  to  bless 
us  in  the  approval  of  conscience  and  of  God.  We  have 
by  our  first  commission  of  it  so  sown  it  that  it  shall 
bear  fruit,  either  to  upbraid  us  for  being  its  creators, 
or  to  bless  us  for  having  called  it  into  being.  No  article 
of  our  conduct  ever  stands  alone.  It  may  pass  from 
our  memory,  indeed,  for  a  time,  even  as  the  seed  in 
the  soil  decays  and  dies  ;  yet,  at  length,  in  the  re_ 
production  of  it  we  shall  be  made  to  think  of  it  and  to 


176      THE   HAEVEST   OF  EETEIBUTION  AND  REWAED. 

connect  it  with  its  fruit.  What  a  graphic  illustration 
of  this  we  have  in  the  case  of  Joseph's  brethren ! 
They  sold  him  into  slavery,  and  when  they  had  palmed 
their  lie  upon  their  father  they  thought  no  more  upon 
their  guilt.  They  had  rid  themselves  of  an  inconve- 
nient reporter  of  their  evil  doings,  and  so  all  was  well- 
But  when  that  which  they  had  sowed  in  the  captivity 
of  their  brother  was  reaped  by  them  in  the  shape  of 
their  own  imprisonment,  then  they  said  one  to  another, 
*'  We  were  verily  guilty  concerning  our  brother :  when 
we  saw  the  anguish  of  his  soul ;  when  he  besought  us 
and  we  would  not  hear ;  therefore  is  this  distress  come 
upon  us."  And  can  we  help  seeing  how  the  lie  which 
Jacob  told  to  Isaac  bore  fruit  to  Jacob's  own  misery 
in  the  falsehood  of  his  sons  to  himself  ?  Thus,  either  in 
our  own  enlarged  and  habitual  commission  of  it,  or  in 
the  being  compelled  to  endure  it  at  the  hands  of  others, 
sin  is  ever,  by  its  own  reproduction,  the  punishment 
of  sin.  And  whether  we  think  of  it  or  not,  in  all  our 
thoughts  and  words  and  actions  we  are  sowing  seeds 
of  which  we  shall  have  to  reap  the  harvest  by-and-by. 
But  the  same  thing  is  seen,  very  often,  in  the  rela- 
tion of  one  segment  of  our  life  upon  earth  to  the  re- 
mainder of  that  life.  It  is  one  of  the  commonest  of  com- 
monplaces that  youth  is  the  seed-time  of  life.  If  that 
be  improved  as  it  ought  to  be,  the  rest  of  the  earthly 
existence  will  be  noble  ;  but  if  that  be  wasted,  the  re- 
mainder will  never  be  what  it  might  have  been  and 
ought  to  have  neen.  The  man  may  receive  regenera- 
tion, indeed,  through  repentance  unto  life,  and  in 
some  aspects  of  his  later  history  there  may  even  be 
good  brought  out  of  the  former  evil ;  but  never  can 
he  be  what  he  might  have  been  if  he  had  not  to  reap 
in  his  age  the  harvest  from  the  seed  he  sowed  in 
youth ;  and  if  he  do  not  repent  at  all,  the  life  as  a 


THE   HARVEST  OF  RETRIBUTION  AND   REWARD.       177 

whole  is  a  seed  from  which  the  ultimate  harvest  must 
be  terrible.  There  is  a  way  of  speaking  on  this  sub- 
ject, indeed,  which  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  the 
"sowing  of  wild  oats,"  as  it  is  called,  is  merely  a 
necessary  stage  in  the  development  of  a  young  man, 
and  that  if,  after  that  has  been  gone  through,  he  can 
be  led  to  settle  down,  no  great  harm  will  come.  But, 
not  to  say  that  there  is  a  tremendous  uncertainty  in 
that  if,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  from  every 
seed  planted  there  is  and  must  be  a  growth,  and  that 
in  some  way  or  other  God  will  make  a  man  possess 
the  sins  of  his  youth.  The  sowing  is  to  be  followed 
by  a  reaping,  and  the  crop  will  be  of  the  same  kind 
as  the  seed ;  so  that  after  all  there  are  few  things  in 
life  so  expensive  and  so  absolutely  insane  as  this 
same  scattering  of  wild  oats,  at  which  so  many  fool- 
ishly make  mirth  as  if  it  were  a  thing  of  course. 
Young  man !  remember  it :  you  shall  have  to  reap  all 
that  you  sow.  It  may  not  be  this  year,  or  next  year, 
but  you  slicdl  reap — for  as  the  French  lady  said  to  the 
great  ecclesiastic,  "  My  Lord  Cardinal !  God  does  not 
pay  at  the  end  of  every  week,  but  at  the  last  he  pays !  " 
Now,  with  these  experiences  in  the  present  state  of 
existence  fresh  in  our  remembrance,  we  can  better 
apprehend  the  truth  regarding  future  retribution 
which  is  taught  by  my  text.  Just  as  individual 
thoughts,  and  words,  and  actions  are  seminal ;  just  as 
one  part  of  our  earthly  life  is  a  seed-time  for  another ; 
so  our  life  on  earth,  as  a  whole,  is  the  germ  from 
which  our  eternity  shall  spring.  Ketribution  is  the 
reaping  of  the  harvest  from  the  seeds  which  all  through 
our  earthly  existence  we  were  sowing.  The  sinner  will 
be  given  up  to  his  sin — left  to  it  and  in  it ;  the  saint 
will  rise  to  higher  holiness,  and  find  happiness  and 
reward  in  the  things  which  most  ho  delighted  in  on 
8* 


178       THE  HAEVEST  OF  EETRIBUTION  AOT)  REWAED. 

earth.  Tliere  is  notliing  arbitrary  here.  I  have  no 
doubt,  indeed,  that  in  heaven  there  will  be  a  special 
bestowment  of  reward ;  and  in  hell  a  positive  inflic- 
tion of  judicial  punishment ;  but  still,  as  one  of  my 
revered  instructors  has  remarked  on  these  verses,  "  It 
surely  deserves  notice  that  in  very  many  passages  of 
Scripture  the  misery  of  the  irreclaimably  impenitent 
is  represented  as  the  native  necessary  result  of  their 
own  conduct.  The  whole  economy  of  God's  moral  gov- 
ernment would  need  to  be  altered ;  the  constituent  prin- 
ciples of  man's  nature  would  need  to  be  changed,  be- 
fore those  who  live  and  die  '  carnal '  can  be  really  happy 
in  another  world."  *  That  which  a  man  has  fostered 
here  in  himself  will  be  the  source  of  his  blessedness  or 
the  fountain  of  his  woe  hereafter.  In  a  word,  himself 
will  be  his  reward  or  retribution,  and  that  self  he  is 
making  now,  by  the  thoughts  and  words  and  actions 
in  which  he  is  indulging.  So  as  he  is  sowing  now  he 
shall  reap  hereafter ;  nay,  more  explicitly,  that  which 
he  is  sowing  now  he  will  reap  hereafter.  It  is  as 
absurd  to  suppose  that  if  we  are  wedded  to  sin  here 
we  shall  be  holy,  and  therefore  happy,  in  the  future 
life,  as  it  is  for  a  man  who  has  planted  thorns  to  ex- 
pect from  them  a  return  of  grapes.  And  if  we  delight 
in  the  Lord  after  the  inner  man,  and  find  our  joy  in 
serving  Christ  on  earth,  w^e  may  as  rationally  look  for 
heaven  in  the  state  beyond  as  the  farmer  who  sows 
barley  may  anticipate  that  he  shall  reap  the  same. 
To  expect  anything  else  is  to  "  mock  God  "  by  disregard- 
ing the  law  which  he  has  written  as  clearly  on  our 
moral  constitution  as  that  of  fruit  bearing  after  its 
kind  is  written  on  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Here  then 
are  the  two  things  that  underlie  the  figure  of  my  text, 

*  Jolm  BrowD,  D.D.,  in  exposition  of  the  Galatians  in  loco. 


THE  HAEVEST  OF  EETBIBUTION  AND  EEWAED.       179 

— tlie  present  life  is  the  seed-plot  of  the  future  state ; 
and  the  harvest  which  we  reap  in  eternity  is  the  same 
in  character  and  quality  as  that  which  now  we  sow. 

II.  But  the  second  thought  suggested  by  the  words 
before  us  is  that  there  are  only  two  kinds  of  seed 
which  we  can  sow  in  our  earthly  existence.  The 
apostle  mentions  sowing  to  the  flesh,  and  sowing  to 
the  spirit — these  are  all ;  and  each  of  us  is  doing  one 
or  the  other.  There  is  no  third  alternative.  It  be- 
hooves us,  then,  to  make  very  sure  what  these  two  are. 
The  "  flesh "  is  Paul's  term  for  unrenewed  human 
nature.  And  if  you  look  at  the  section  of  this  epistle 
to  which  the  text  belongs  you  can  be  at  no  loss  to 
discover  what  he  means  by  the  phrase  "  he  that  soweth 
to  his  flesh."  For  thus  he  writes :  "  The  works  of  the 
flesh  are  manifest,  which  are  these,  adultery,  fornica- 
tion, uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  idolatry,  witchcraft, 
hatred,  variance,  wrath,  strife,  seditions,  heresies, 
envyings,  murders,  drunkenness,  revelings,  and  such 
like  "  ;  and  lest  anyone  should  imagine  that  only  very 
heinous  sins,  which  rank  in  the  eyes  of  men  as  crimes 
as  well  as  vices,  come  under  this  classification,  he  has 
still  further  indicated  the  scope  of  the  term  when  he 
says,  "Let  us  not  be  desirous  of  vainglory,  provoking 
one  another,  envying  one  another."  Nay,  as  seems  to 
me  very  plain  from  the  verse  immediately  preceding 
the  text,  he  includes  the  stinginess  which  witholds 
suitable  maintenance  from  the  Christian  minister 
under  that  "  sowing  to  the  flesh  "  of  which  the  result 
is  corruption.  And  as  he  has  declared  that  *'  they 
that  are  Christ's  have  crucified  the  flesh  with  the  affec- 
tions and  lusts,"  it  is  also  perfectly  clear  that  all  who 
are  not  Christ's,  and  who  have  not  crucified  the  flesh, 
are  sowing  to  the  flesh.  On  the  other  hand,  the  "  spirit " 


180      THE  HAEVEST   OF  EETKIBUTION  AND  EEWAED. 

throughout  this  passage  is  most  naturally  taken  to 
mean  not  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  that  which  is  the 
proper  antithesis  to  unrenewed  human  nature,  namely, 
the  renewed  man. 

Thus,  then,  we  get  the  result  that  the  unregene- 
rated  man  is  "  sowing  to  the  flesh,"  and  the  re- 
generated man — he  who  is  in  Christ  and  therefore 
a  new  creature — is  "  sowing  to  the  spirit."  So  it 
comes  to  this,  that  if  we  would  make  the  best  of 
the  present  life  as  the  germ  of  the  future  state,  we 
must  be  born  again;  and  the  evidence  that  we  are 
thus  regenerated  will  be  furnished  by  our  manifesta- 
tion of  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  "  which  is,  "  Love,  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meek- 
ness, temperance."  Nay,  more,  as  in  the  natural 
world  that  which  we  take  for  seed  has  already  grown 
and  is  itself  a  fruit,  so  these  virtues  which  are  them- 
selves in  one  sense  the  fruit  of  our  regeneration  are  in 
another  the  seed  of  the  Spirit  from  which  are  yet  to 
spring  up  the  blessedness  and  reward  of  heaven.  My 
brethren,  these  are  great  principles.  They  have  a 
tremendous  sweep  ;  and  yet  they  bear  down  with  all 
their  force  upon  each  individual  among  us.  They  tell 
us  that  unless  through  faith  in  Christ  and  the  agency 
of  his  Spirit  we  have  been  born  again  we  are  and 
must  be  sowing  to  the  flesh.  I  dare  not  make  any  excep- 
tions here,  and  so  the  question  for  each  of  us — a  ques- 
tion whose  answer  carries  the  whole  color  and  com- 
plexion of  our  eternity  in  it — is,  "  Have  I  been  born 
an'ain  ?  "  Oh  !  if  it  be  that  a  soul  here  is  still  unre- 
newed,  may  God  the  Holy  Ghost  use  the  truth  which 
I  have  now  brought  before  you  in  quickening  that 
soul  to  life  in  Christ ! 

III.  But,  in  the  third  place,  the  text  suggests  that 


THE  HAEVEST   OF  EETRIBUTION  AND   EEWARD.       181 

in  the  case  of  both  sowings  the  harvest  will  be  an  in- 
crease. Usually  the  crop  is  a  multiplication  of  the 
seed.  As  the  parable  has  it,  in  some  it  is  thirty-fold, 
in  some  sixty-fold,  and  in  some  an  hundred-fold.  So, 
too,  it  is  always  the  case  that  the  quantity  reaped  is 
proportioned  to  the  quantity  sown.  "  He  that  soweth 
sparingly  shall  reap  also  sparingly ;  but  he  that 
soweth  bountifully  shall  reap  also  bountifully."  There 
shall  be  degrees  in  retribution  and  reward.  The 
ragged  urchin  in  our  city  streets,  who  has  not 
had  the  opportunities  of  a  Christian  household,  will 
not  have  to  gather  such  a  harvest  of  suffering  from 
his  sowing  to  the  flesh  as  will  he  who  has  sinned 
against  light  and  privilege  of  the  highest  order. 
The  heathen,  who  have  not  heard  of  Christ,  will  not 
have  the  same  future  as  those  who,  having  had  the 
Saviour  preached  to  them,  have  defiantly  rejected 
him.  The  Lord  said  unto  Capernaum  :  "It  shall  be 
more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  in  the  day  of 
judgment  than  for  thee."  So,  in  the  matter  of  retri- 
bution the  condition  of  each  will  be  proportioned  to 
his  guilt.  But  the  same  principle  holds  in  reward. 
There  shall  be  degrees  of  glory  as  well  as  of  perdition. 
He  who  creeps  in  at  last  to  the  kingdom  through  the 
fast  closing  gate,  and  by  a  death-bed  repentance  be- 
comes regenerated,  shall  not  have  a  place  like  that  of 
the  man  whose  entire  life  has  been  devoted  to  the 
Lord  Jesus.  He  who  made  the  one  pound  into  ten 
received  in  the  parable  authority  over  ten  cities.  He 
who  from  the  one  gained  as  much  as  made  it  five  was  set 
over  five  cities.  All  this  goes  to  show  that  while  it  is 
wholly  of  grace  that  reward  is  granted  to  any  believer, 
yet  the  reward  itself  is  graduated  for  each  according 
to  the  magnitude  of  the  service.  We  all  admit  that 
in  the  matter  of  reward  ;  but  we  too  often  forget  that 


182      THE  HAEVEST  OF  RETRIBUTION  AND  REWARD. 

the  same  principle  holds  in  respect  to  punishment ; 
and  I  cannot  but  think  that  if  more  prominence  had 
been  given  to  that  aspect  of  the  subject  there  would 
be  less  difficulty  felt  m  accepting  that  doctrine  which 
has  been  such  an  offense  to  many  modern  inquirers. 
But  though  there  is  thus  a  proportion  in  quantity 
between  the  seed  and  the  crop,  the  harvest  is  always  an 
increase  on  that  which  was  sown.  From  the  seed  of 
the  flesh  the  ripened  result  is  corruption,  which  is 
flesh  in  its  most  revolting  state.  From  the  seed  of  the 
spirit  the  full  ear  is  life  everlasting,  which  is  eternal 
holiness  with  its  concomitant  of  endless  happiness. 
And  what  can  I  say  to  make  these  ideas  more  clear 
and  forcible  than  this  simple  presentation  of  them  is? 
Corruption !  The  delirium  tremens  of  the  drunkard, 
and  the  living  death  of  the  sensualist  whose  sin  has 
found  him  out  here  on  earth,  may  help  us  to  under- 
stand something  of  what  that  must  mean  in  eternity, 
and  for  the  rest  I  must  ask  Byron  to  help  me  out.  For 
these  are  his  words  describing  even  earthly  desolation 
of  heart : 

"  It  is  as  if  the  dead  could  feel 
The  ley  worm  around  them  steal, 
And  shudder,  as  the  reptiles  creep 
To  revel  o'er  their  rotting  sleep. 
Without  the  power  to  scare  away 
The  cold  consumers  of  their  clay." 

But  enough  of  that!  I  turn  rather  to  the  other  side, 
and  bid  you  remember  that  the  highest  happiness  of 
the  Christian's  experience  on  earth  will  be  but  like  as 
the  faint  light  of  early  dawn  is  to  the  meridian  day, 
when  it  is  compared  with  the  blessedness  of  heaven. 
The  harvest  is  always  an  increase.  "We  plant  a  single 
grain,  we  pluck  a  full  ear ;  we  sow  in  handfuls,  we 
reap    in    bosomfuls;    we    scatter    bushels,    but    we 


THE  HAEVEST  OF  RETRIBUTION  AND   REWARD.       183 

gather  in  ricli  granary  stores.  The  remorse  of  earth 
is  but  the  germ  of  the  despair  of  hell.  The  holiness 
of  the  present  is  only  the  bud  from  which  will  blossom 
that  vision  of  God  which  is  the  full-flowered  beatitude 
of  heaven. 

Now,  if  all  this  be  true,  see  how  it  invests  the  pres- 
ent life  with  infinite  importance.  It  used  to  be  said 
by  the  apostles  of  infidelity,  under  the  name  of  secu- 
larism, that  belief  in  a  future  state  unfits  men  for 
the  performance  of  the  duties  of  the  life  that  now  is 
by  fixing  their  minds  on  that  which  is  as  yet  in  the 
distance.  But  the  course  of  thought  which  we  have 
followed  this  morning  utterly  falsifies  such  a  state- 
ment. It  were  just  as  rational  to  allege  that  the  hus- 
bandman by  looking  forward  to  the  harvest  incapaci- 
tates himself  for  the  work  of  the  spring-time ;  or  that 
the  youth  by  setting  his  ambition  on  after  success  is 
thereby  disqualified  for  the  prosecution  of  his  early 
education,  as  it  is  to  affirm  that  faith  in  the  future  life 
prevents  us  from  performing  the  work  of  to-day.  The 
truth  rather  is  that  it  intensifies  the  importance  of  the 
presentby  focusing  ujDon  it  the  issues  of  eternity.  It 
makes  us  all  the  more  careful  to  do  the  work  that  lies 
at  our  hands,  not  in  the  fleshly  manner  of  the  unre- 
newed man,  but  after  the  spiritual  method  of  the  re- 
generated soul.  Every  thought  we  think,  every  word 
we  speak,  every  action  we  perform,  every  opportunity 
of  service  neglected  or  improved,  is  a  seed  sown  by  us 
the  fruit  of  which  shall  multiply  either  into  untold 
miseries  or  myriad  blessings  in  the  eternity  into 
which  we  go.  That  is  the  teaching  of  the  word  of 
God,  and  who  shall  say  that  such  a  view  of  the  case 
does  not  magnify,  rather  than  diminish,  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  present  ?  In  the  stirring  history  of  Eng- 
lish martyrology  we  read  of  an  eminent  victim  that  on 


184   THE  HAKVEST  OF  EETRIBUTION  AND  REWAED. 

one  occasion  lie  was  taken  from  his  dungeon  to  a  cliam- 
ber  wliich  was  Imng  round  with  tapestry  ;  that  there  he 
was  being  gradually  drawn  into  a  conversation  regard- 
ing himself  and  his  companions  when  in  a  moment  of 
quietness  he  heard  the  sound  of  the  nib  of  a  pen  mov- 
ing upon  paper,  as  if  some  one  were  writing  behind  the 
arras;  and  that  immediately  thereupon  he  became 
silent,  for  well  he  knew  that  by  a  thoughtless  word 
he  might  bring  upon  both  himself  and  his  brethren 
the  severest  suffering.  But,  my  hearers,  the  actions 
in  which  now  we  engage  are  seeds  whose  fruit  shall 
be  eternal,  and  when  we  know  and  believe  that  shall 
we  be  less  careful  of  them  than  he  was  of  his  speech  ? 
It  is  told  of  a  famous  painter  that  he  was  remarkable 
for  the  careful  manner  in  which  he  went  about  his 
work,  and  when  one  asked  him  why  he  took  such 
pains  his  answer  was  :  "  Because  I  paint  for  eternity." 
Beloved,  shall  this  be  so  in  the  case  of  one  who  is  try- 
ing to  secure  a  lasting  earthly  fame,  and  shall  we  not 
be  considerate  in  all  our  ways,  knowing  that  what  we 
are  doing  now  shall  have  an  eternal  effect  upon  our 
character  and  condition  ?  Every  day  we  live  we  are 
treasuring  up  for  ourselves  wrath  against  the  day  of 
wrath  and  revelation  of  the  righteous  judgment  o^ 
God,  or  we  are  laying  up  for  ourselves  treasures  i.i 
heaven,  "  where  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt." 
"What  need,  then,  thab  we  should  daily  consider  what 
shall  be  the  end  of  these  things,  and  whether  we  are 
sowing  to  the  flesh  or  to  the  spirit  ?  Let  the  thought- 
less among  us  be  startled  into  earnestness  by  this 
solemn  consideration  ;  and  if  there  be  those  here  who 
are  seeking  prayerfully  to  sow  to  the  spirit,  but  in 
their  battle  with  discouragements  are  filled  with  de- 
spondency lest  at  length  there  should  be  little  result, 
let  them  take  courage ;  they  shall  reap.     It  may  not 


THE  HAEVEST  OF  RETRIBUTION  AND  REWARD.        185 

be  immediately,  but  tliey  sliall  reap  in  due  season,  if 
tliey  faint  not.  It  is  to  "  mock  "  God  to  think  otherwise, 
and  when  I  put  it  so,  my  Christian  brethren,  you, 
I  know,  will  be  the  last  to  incur  any  such  guilt  as  that. 
Hold  on,  then,  though  your  sowing  should  be  in  sor- 
row. Here  is  a  song  for  your  inspiration.  Sing  it,  and 
as  you  honor  God  by  the  faith  which  it  breathes  you 
will  acquire  new  strength  for  the  work  which  you  are 
carrying  through.  "  They  that  sow  in  tears  shall  reap 
in  joy.  He  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  pre- 
cious seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again  with  rejoicing, 
bringing  his  sheaves  with  him." 

February  37,  1881. 


DEBTORS. 

Romans  i.  14,  I  am  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  barba- 
rians :  both  to  the  wise  and  to  the  unwise. 

The  Greeks  styled  "  barbarians  "  all  those  wto  did 
not  speak  that  polished  language  of  which  they  were  so 
justly  proud.  In  the  mouth  of  a  Jew,  therefore,  the 
phrase  *'  Greeks  and  barbarians  "  included  all  Gen- 
tiles. So,  when  Paul  aflfirms  that  he  is  "  a  debtor  both 
to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  barbarians,  both  to  the  wise  and 
to  the  unwise,"  his  meaning  is  that  he  is  under  obliga- 
tion to  Gentiles  universally  without  respect  to  race  or 
culture  ;  and  in  the  text  he  gives  that  as  a  reason  why 
he  was  so  anxious  to  visit  Rome — because  that  was  the 
place  where  he  was  most  likely  to  meet  representatives 
of  all  existing  nationalities  and  of  all  grades  of  intel- 
ligence. The  language  is  commercial,  and  yet  the 
obligation  which  it  acknowledges  is  not  precisely  that 
which  a  merchant  commonly  understands  by  the  words. 
Debt  is  that  which  a  man  owes  to  another  for  some- 
thing which  he  has  bought  from  him  on  trust,  or  re- 
ceived from  him  as  a  loan.  But  Paul  was  not  in  any 
such  way  indebted  to  the  Gentiles.  He  had  never 
bought  anything  in  their  markets  without  paying  its 
price.  They  had  not  lent  him  any  sums  of  money  on 
interest.  No  human  being  had  any  pecuniary  claim 
against  him.  He  was,  in  that  sense,  the  most  inde- 
pendent of  men,  for  he  owed  no  one  a  penny. 

Neither  did  he  owe  the  Gentiles  any  gratitude  for  fa- 
vors which  he  had  received  at  their  hands,  for  in 


DEBTOES.  187 

almost  every  city  in  wliicli  he  labored  lie  liad  encoun- 
tered persecution,  and  suffered  wrong.  It  was  not 
therefore,  on  the  ground  of  anything  which  he  had 
obtained />"o?/i  the  Gentiles  that  Paul  acknowledged 
himself  to  be  their  debtor,  but  solely  on  the  ground 
of  that  which  he  had  received  from  another/or  them. 
At  his  conversion  to  Christianity  he  had  been  com- 
missioned to  the  Gentiles  "  to  open  their  eyes  and  to 
turn  them  from  darkness  to  light  and  from  the  power 
of  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  might  receive  forgiveness 
of  sins,  and  inheritance  among  them  which  are  sancti- 
fied "  ;  and  so  he  regarded  himself  as  "  the  apostle  of 
the  Gentiles."  Just  as  at  a  far  later  date  John  Wesley 
declared  that  the  world  was  his  parish,  so  Paul 
looked  upon  himself  as  a  bishop  whose  diocese  in- 
cluded all  the  Gentile  nationalities.  "  The  glorious 
gospel  of  the  blessed  God  "  had  been  "  committed"  to 
his  "trust"  for  their  behoof;  he  had  been  "allowed 
of  God  to  be  put  in  trust  with  the  gospel "  for  their 
benefit,  and,  therefore,  that  he  might  be  a  faithful 
steward  of  the  mysteries  of  God,  he  was  exceedingly 
desirous  of  preaching  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  to 
men  of  every  nation,  and  of  every  degree.  He  could 
not  honestly  hold  it  back.  It  had  not  been  given  to 
him  for  himself  alone,  and  if  he  had  attempted  to  keep 
it  from  his  fellow-men  he  would  have  been  false  to 
the  trust  which  had  been  committed  to  his  care,  and 
could  not  have  vindicated  himself  either  at  the  bar  of 
conscience  or  at  the  bar  of  God. 

The  case  stood  thus  :  On  the  one  hand  he  had  him- 
self been  signally  blessed  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
When  he  was  ignorantly  rushing  on  in  a  career  of  an- 
tagonism to  the  truth,  and  had  become  a  persecutor 
and  a  murderer,  he  was  apprehended  by  the  mercy  of 
the  Most  High,  and  at  the  very  moment  when  his  eyes 


188  DEBTOES. 

were  opened  to  tlie  discovery  of  liis  guilt  he  received 
tlie  assurance  of  liis  forgiveness.  Henceforth  a  new 
life  began  in  him.  Everything  was  changed  to  him  I 
and  in  recognition  of  the  love  which  had  been  shown 
to  him  he  j)laced  himself  soul,  body  and  spirit  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Lord.  Had  it  pleased  the  Saviour  so 
to  employ  him,  he  would  probably  have  j)i^eferred  to 
remain  at  Jerusalem  and  work  in  his  service  there  ; 
but  it  was  not  for  him  to  choose,  and  when  he  was 
specially  commissioned  to  go  to  the  Gentiles,  he  went 
with  his  whole  soul  to  do  his  Master's  bidding.  Under- 
neath this  obligation,  therefore,  in  the  heart  of  Paul 
there  lay  all  his  gratitude  to  the  Redeemer  for  his 
own  salvation,  and  he  sought  in  this  practical  way, 
by  laboring  for  the  benefit  of  others,  to  show  the 
magnitude  of  his  appreciation  of  all  that  he  owed  to 
Christ. 

Then,  on  the  other  side,  there  were  the  clamant 
needs  of  the  Gentile  world.  The  vision  of  the  man  of 
Macedonia  crying,  "Come  over  and  help  us,"  was, 
indeed,  a  special  divine  indication  to  him  of  what  the 
Lord  would  have  him  to  do ;  but  it  came  to  him  in 
that  form  and  at  that  time,  because  it  was  already  in 
the  line  of  all  his  aspirations,  and  desires,  and  jDur- 
poses.  He  knew  the  hollowness  of  the  idolatries  of 
the  Gentiles  ;  he  had  seen  the  degradation  to  which 
their  worship  led ;  and  having  learned  the  value  of 
his  own  soul  at  the  cross  of  Christ,  he  was  eager  to  be 
the  means  of  communicating  the  same  revelation,  and 
conveying  the  same  life  to  them.  This  was  the  spon- 
taneous prompting  of  the  new  nature  which  he  had 
received  from  Christ  by  the  regeneration  and  in-dwell- 
ing of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  that  yearning  of  his  own 
was  intensified,  and  made  no  mere  spasmodic  emotion, 
but  an  abiding  principle  of  action,  in  him  by  the  re- 


DEBTOKS.  189 

ception  of  hm  commission  as  the  "  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles."  For  that  commission  made  him  personally 
responsible  for  their  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  so,  wherever  he  came 
into  contact  with  them,  he  could  not  rest  until  he  had 
preached  it  to  them.  Whether  they  should  accept  it 
or  not  rested  with  themselves.  That  was  a  matter  of 
their  own  choice.  But  as  for  the  proclamation  of  it 
to  them,  he  had  no  alternative  ;  for  necessity  was  laid 
upon  him,  and  he  felt  that  it  was  at  his  peril  if  he 
should  hold  his  peace. 

How  that  motive  operated  in  him  is  seen  in  a 
very  peculiar  manner  by  his  course  at  Athens.  He 
was  in  that  classic  city  alone.  He  had  not  intended, 
so  far  as  appears,  without  the  support  of  com- 
panions, to  do  anything  publicly  there ;  but  when 
lie  saw  the  state  of  things  among  the  people  his  spirit 
was  so  stirred  that,  in  defiance  of  all  the  dictates 
of  prudence,  and  at  the  risk  of  scorn  and  persecution, 
he  could  not  but  speak.  And  when  we  get  thus  up  to 
the  fountain-head  of  motive  in  his  heart,  it  becomes 
easy  for  us  to  understand  how  it  came  that  Paul  was 
enabled  to  do  so  much  both  for  the  church  and  for  the 
world.  He  was  always  on  the  outlook  for  opportu- 
nities of  paying  this  debt  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the 
barbarians  ;  both  to  the  wise  and  to  the  unwise.  He 
was  not  afraid  to  speak  to  men  like  Sergius  Paulus,  or 
Festus  ;  and  yet  he  was  not  above  seeking  the  salva- 
tion of  a  runaway  slave  like  Onesimus.  He  was 
equally  earnest  in  the  little  prayer-meeting  of  women 
at  Philippi  where  Lydia  was  converted,  and  upon  the 
summit  of  Areopagus  where  he  was  surrounded  by  the 
proud  philosophers  of  Athens  ;  for  he  was  in  debt  to 
both  alike,  and  he  sought  to  have  himself  clear  from 
the  blood  of  both.     He  could  not  rest  under  this  obli- 


190  DEBTORS. 

gation,  but  went  in  obedience  to  it  from  city  to  city 
until  be  reached  Rome  at  last ;  and  even  there,  when 
he  was  an  "ambassador  in  bonds,"  he  found  a  con- 
gregation large  enough  for  his  ambition  in  the  soldier 
that  was  chained  to  his  right  arm.  He  never  saw  a 
man  without  remembering  that  he  had  a  debt  to  pay  to 
him,  and  so,  not  more  for  the  benefit  of  the  stranger 
than  for  the  exoneration  of  his  own  conscience  in  the 
manifestation  of  fidelity  to  the  trust  which  he  had  re- 
ceived for  him,  he  sought  his  highest  welfare.  Un- 
like the  dishonest  debtor  who  flees  from  land  to  land 
that  he  may  escape  his  creditors,  Paul  was  ever  on 
the  move  that  he  might  fairly  and  honestly  meet  the 
obligations  that  rested  upon  him,  and  might  have  new 
opportunities  of  coming  into  contact  with  those  for 
whom  God  had  appointed  him  trustee.  Brethren, 
when  I  put  it  so,  I  cease  to  wonder  at  the  unwearying 
assiduity  of  the  great  aj)ostle,  while  at  the  same  time 
I  am  filled  with  shame  at  the  poor,  paltry  littleness  of 
our  modern  Christianity  when  compared  with  his. 
For,  while  there  was  undeniably  a  specialty  in  the 
case  of  Paul,  inasmuch  as  he  was  distinctly  and  di- 
vinely commissioned  to  be  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
the  obligation  to  which  he  here  refers  is  general  and 
rests  on  every  individual  believer.  In  him  it  came  to  a 
distinct  and  definite  head,  and  took  an  individual  and 
peculiar  direction  under  the  articulate  command  of 
the  Lord.  But  his  was  only  a  specific  instance  of  a 
generic  principle,  and  that  principle  holds  to-day  for 
us  as  really  and  powerfully  as  it  did  for  him. 

Now  what  is  that  principle  ?  It  is  this,  that  personal 
possession  of  any  peculiar  privilege  is  of  the  nature  of 
a  trust,  and  involves  the  obligation  that  the  privilege 
shall  be  used  by  the  individual  not  for  his  own  pleas- 
ure or  2>rofit  merely,  but  for  the  welfare  of  those  who 


DEBTORS.  191 

are  not  similarly  blessed.  What  I  have  that  another 
has  not  is  to  be  used  by  me  not  for  my  own  aggran- 
dizement, but  for  the  good  of  that  other  as  well  as  for 
my  own.  It  is  not  mine  in  the  sense  of  its  being  simply 
for  my  own  enjoyment.  I  may  not  say  regarding  it : 
"  Is  it  not  lawful  for  me  to  do  what  I  will  with  mine 
own?  "  for  I  do  not  hold  it  as  of  absolute  possession. 
It  is  committed  to  me  as  a  trust.  I  hold  it  merely  as 
a  steward  holds  that  which  is  another's  ;  and  I  am  to 
use  it  not  for  myself  alone,  but  also  with  a  view  to  the 
benefit  of  those  who  have  not  the  same  privilege  as 
has  been  conferred  on  me.  The  greatness  of  excep- 
tional endowment,  of  whatever  sort  it  may  be,  carries 
with  it  an  obligation  to  similar  exceptional  greatness 
of  service.  The  highest  of  all,  by  virtue  of  his  very  ele- 
vation, is  to  be  the  servant  of  all.  The  power  of  the 
strong  is,  shall  I  say?  divinely  mortgaged  in  the 
interests  of  the  weak  ;  the  sufferer  whom  I  have  the 
means  of  relieving  has  a  God-given  claim  upon  me 
for  that  relief  ;  and  the  ignorant,  whom  I  am  able  to 
instruct,  is  by  God  entitled  to  that  instruction  at  my 
hands.  He  who  has,  is  in  debt  to  him  who  has  not. 
This  is  clearly  the  true  interpretation  of  such  a  para- 
ble as  that  of  the  good  Samaritan ;  and  indeed  it  is 
the  true  and  proper  outcome  of  the  gospel  itself. 

I  know  that  it  seems  to  run  counter  to  the  common 
modes  of  thought  of  the  world  ;  but  it  is  not  the  less 
surely  the  Christian  view  of  the  matter  because  of 
that.  Selfishness  would  repudiate  all  such  indebted- 
ness. The  man  of  power  says  he  has  won  his  position, 
and  that  he  has  a  right  to  use  it  as  he  will,  no  matter 
what  may  become  of  others  in  the  process.  The  man 
of  wealth  thinks  that  the  merit  of  his  acquisition  is 
all  his  own,  and  that  to  talk  of  his  being  in  debt  to 
others  because  he  is  so  wealthy  is  a  ridiculous  absurd- 


192  DEBTORS. 

ity.  The  man  of  education  is  apt  to  become  proud  of 
his  learning.  Has  he  not  amassed  it  all  by  his  own 
efforts  ?  May  he  not  therefore  keep  it  to  himself  ?  or 
if  he  wishes  to  diffuse  it  may  he  not  do  so  on  his  own 
terms,  and  so  as  to  minister  to  his  own  profit  ?  And 
so  with  all  other  possessors — each  in  his  own  measure 
is  prompted  to  say  of  his  property  like  another  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, "  Is  not  this  great  Babylon  that  I  have 
built  for  the  house  of  my  kingdom  and  for  the  honor  of 
my  majesty  ?  "  and  so  each  has  become,  by  virtue  of  his 
possessions,  just  so  much  the  more  an  oppressor  and 
an  affliction  to  those  who  are  beneath  him.  That  has 
been  the  world's  way. 

But  Christ  has  inaugurated  a  new  dispensation 
and  reversed  all  that  by  introducing  the  principle  on 
which  I  am  now  insisting,  and  already  we  see  indica- 
tions of  its  operations  among  us.  Take  power,  for 
example,  and  how  readily  now  men  understand  and 
assent  to  the  statement  that  it  has  its  duties— and  that 
is  only  another  word  for  debts — as  well  as  its  preroga- 
tives? The  chief  magistrate  of  this  Republic  is 
presumably  the  most  powerful  individual  in  it,  yet  he 
may  not  use  his  power  simply  for  his  own  ends.  True, 
he  is  limited  by  the  Constitution,  but  still  outside  of 
the  Constitution  altogether,  and  in  the  public  opinion 
of  the  country,  there  is  the  feeling  that  in  numberless 
ways  which  no  written  constitution  could  enumerate 
he  owes  it  to  the  community  to  exert  his  power  for  the 
public  welfare,  and  not  either  for  personal  or  party 
purposes.  It  may  be  difficult  to  enforce  that  obliga- 
tion in  any  legal  way,  but  still  it  is  there,  assented  to 
by  his  own  heart  as  well  as  required  by  his  fellow- 
citizens.  Then  as  to  wealth  :  the  conviction  is  becom- 
ing stronger  among  us  that  riches  bring  obligations 
with  them,  and  that  the  man  who  is  blessed  with  them 


DEBTORS.  193 

owes  certain  duties,  ttat  is  to  say,  is  himself  a  debtor, 
to  the  community  of  which  he  is  a  member.  No  civil 
statute,  indeed,  could  define  precisely  what  these 
duties  are,  and  no  legal  tribunal  could  enforce  them  ; 
but  still  they  are  there,  and  the  obligation  to  perform 
them  is  not  the  less  imperative  or  important  because 
the  measure  of  obedience  to  them  is  left  in  each  case 
to  the  impulse  of  the  individual  heart.  The  rich  man 
who  makes  himself  a  great  Dead  Sea  into  which  all  the 
streams  of  his  effort  run,  and  from  which  nothing 
flows  out,  is  despised ;  while  every  one  honors  him 
who  uses  his  money  for  the  good  of  the  people.  That 
shows  how  thoroughly  this  principle  that  possession 
implies  trust  has  permeated  our  modern  life.  The 
same  is  true  of  education,  and  of  all  the  other  things 
which  become  the  property  of  a  man,  whether  by  in- 
heritance or  through  God's  blessing  on  his  own  exer- 
tions. True,  we  are  a  very  long  way  yet  either  from 
a  universal  or  from  a  full  recognition  of  this  principle 
in  general  society.  But  it  is  making  its  way ;  and 
what  I  am  anxious  that  you  should  observe  is,  that  it 
has  had  its  origin  in  the  gospel ;  and  that  in  the 
measure  in  which  it  advances  it  will  diminish  the 
perils  that  are,  I  fear,  incident  to  our  modern  civiliza- 
tion. 

It  has  had  its  origin  in  the  gospel,  for,  until  Christ 
came,  men  cared  little  for  anything  outside  of  them- 
selves. The  question  of  Cain,  "Am  I.  my  brother's 
keeper  ?  "  gives  the  key  to  the  explanation  of  all  the 
enormities  of  the  ancient  civilizations  ;  and  after  a 
survey  of  the  history  of  the  world  before  the  advent, 
one  might  employ  the  preacher's  words :  "  So  I  re- 
turned and  considered  all  the  oppressions  that  are 
done  under  the  sun ;  and  behold  the  tears  of  such  as 
were  oppressed ;  and  they  had  no  comforter ;  and  on 


194  DEBTORS. 

the  side  of  tlieir  oppressors  there  was  power,  but  they 
had  no  comforter."  But  Christ  brought  the  power  of 
the  highest  to  the  help  of  the  lowest ;  and  he  taught 
liis  followers  to  look  "  not  every  man  on  his  own  things, 
but  every  man  also  on  the  things  of  others."  He  con- 
demned the  selfish  and  comjjlacent  policy  of  passing 
misery,  or  sorrow,  or  want,  or  opj)ression  "  by  on  the 
other  side,"  and  commissioned  all  his  followers — as 
really  as  he  commissioned  Paul  to  be  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles — to  use  all  the  resources  at  their  command 
for  the  mitigation  of  the  sufferings  and  the  removal  of 
the  ignorance  of  tlieir  fellow-men,  so  that  each  of  them 
might  say,  "  I  am  a  debtor  both  to  the  wise  and  to  the 
unwise." 

And  this  princij)le,  thus  introduced  by  the  gospel, 
furnishes  that  which  is  needed  to  meet  the  j)erils  of 
our  modern  civilization.  The  tendency  of  the  times  is 
to  increase  the  separation  between  different  classes  in 
the  community.  We  continually  hear  it  said  that  the 
rich  are  becoming  richer,  and  the  poor  are  growing 
poorer.  The  gulf  which  has  long  yawned  between 
employers  and  employed  is  widening  ;  and  the  dis- 
tance between  the  avenues  and  the  tenement  houses 
is  constantly  becoming  greater.  Now  some  of  that  is 
no  doubt  inevitable.  We  can  never  have  a  dead  level 
of  absolute  equality.  It  is  as  natural  for  society  to 
divide  itself  into  classes  as  it  is  for  the  tree  to  diverge 
into  branches.  And  though  there  be  no  aristocracy 
so-called  among  us,  the  divisions  are  just  as  clearly 
though  it  may  be  not  so  strongly  marked  in  this  land 
as  they  are  in  some  European  countries.  The  truth 
is  that  such  divergence  is  everywhere  unavoidable, 
although,  in  these  days,  even  the  very  triumj^hs  of 
modern  machinery  have  helped  to  make  it  worse  than 
perhaps  otherwise  it  might  have  been.     And  the  thing 


DEBTOES.  195 

has  to  be  accepted.  We  cannot  get  rid  of  it,  and  we 
must  not  seek  by  any  factitious  means,  far  less  by  any 
violent  means,  to  remove  it.  What  we  have  to  do  is  to 
bring  the  gospel  principle  of  my  text  to  bear  upon  it 
with  more  force.  For  see  how  it  takes  the  poison  out 
of  all  this  diversity  of  condition  among  men.  It 
makes  the  powerful  man  the  trustee  for  the  weak  ;  the 
rich  man  the  guardian  of  the  poor  ;  the  learned  man 
the  teacher  of  the  ignorant,  and  the  free  man  the 
emancipator  of  the  enslaved.  Thus  by  so  much  the 
more  powerful  one  becomes,  by  so  much  the  better 
it  will  be  for  the  weak  beneath  his  protection ;  by  so 
much  the  wealthier  the  rich  man  is,  by  just  so  much  the 
better  will  it  be  for  the  poor  to  whom  he  is  a  debtor ; 
and  so  with  all  other  possessions.  When  his  followers 
disputed  among  themselves  which  should  be  greatest, 
the  Lord,  instead  of  seeking  to  uproot  ambition,  gave 
a  new  definition  of  greatness  as  service,  and  bade 
them  be  ambitious  of  that,  thereby  transmuting  that 
principle  which  had  been  the  blackest  curse  of  hu- 
manity into  a  means  of  richest  blessing.  And  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  way  here,  the  gospel,  far  from  blotting 
out  all  distinctions  in  society,  as  the  communist  would 
do,  makes  the  very  privileges  which  mark  the  dis- 
tinction between  a  higher  class  and  a  lower  the  basis 
of  obligation,  so  that  the  one  is  the  debtor  of  the 
other,  and  the  obligation  increases  with  the  increase 
of  the  privilege.  In  this  regard  it  is  a  solemn  thing  to 
be  the  possessor  of  a  special  blessing,  for  while  it  is  a 
boon  it  always  brings  a  responsibility,  and  makes  its 
receiver  a  debtor  to  others  who  are  less  fortunate 
than  himself.  That  is  the  Christian  principle ;  and 
when  men  generally  accept  and  act  upon  it,  the  mil- 
lennium shall  have  begun.  Meanwhile  it  is  ours,  each 
in   his   own   place,   to   carry   it   fully   and  faithfully 


196  DEBTOKS. 

tlirougli,  and  so  to  supply  what  in  us  lies  of  tliat 
■wholesome  and  corrective  influence  that  is  needed  to 
counteract  the  selfishness  that  is  seeking  to  disinte- 
grate society. 

But  if  this  principle  introduced  by  Christ  is  thus 
making  its  way  in  the  world,  we  should  expect  to  find 
its  highest  manifestation  in  the  Christian  church. 
And  here,  though  it  has  not  yet  attained  anything 
like  its  legitimate  development,  we  are  not  entirely 
disajDpointed,  for  it  has  put  the  heroism  and  self- 
sacrifice  into  our  religious  life.  It  has  originated  and 
sustained  the  great  missionary  enterprise  ;  and  though 
the  church  as  a  whole  has  not  yet  anything  like  come 
up  to  the  level  of  Paul,  not  to  S23eak  of  that  of  his 
Divine  Master,  still  there  have  been  individuals  who 
are  not  unworthy  to  be  compared  even  with  the  great 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  While  we  here  at  home  are 
enjoying  our  privileges  with  self-complacency  and 
satisfaction,  and  thinking  that  we  perform  our  part 
by  giving  a  small  annual  donation  to  the  American 
Board,  the  men  whom  that  Board  has  commissioned 
are  laboring  with  devoted  heroism  to  carry  the  gospel 
into  benighted  lands.  Only  two  days  ago  I  received 
the  account  of  the  pioneer  work  in  1881  of  those  noble 
men  who  have  gone  to  begin  a  mission  in  West 
Central  Africa,  and  as  I  read  the  thrilling  narrative 
of  patience  and  self-sacrifice,  of  long  journeying  cheer- 
fully undertaken  and  severe  sickness  meekly  borne,  I 
felt  ashamed  of  myself,  and  recognized  that  I  am  not 
worthy  to  unloose  the  latchets  of  their  shoes.  The 
people  around  them  will  have  it  that  they  have  gone 
to  trade.  They  insist  upon  it  that  they  must  have  gone 
to  receive.  They  cannot  understand  that  they  have 
gone  to  give.     They  look  upon  them  with  wonder  when 


DEBTOES.  197 

they  learn  their  purpose  ;  and  tlie  day  is  coming  when 
they  shall  be  sj)oken  of  as  among  the  Pauls  of  this 
nineteenth  century.  These  men  have  no  gain  to  seek 
of  an  earthly  sort.  They  have  gone  like  the  apostle 
to  pay  a  debt — your  debt  and  mine  ;  and  their  example 
ought  to  quicken  and  stimulate  us  to  similar  self- 
denial  here  in  our  own  city.  For  there  is  a  sphere 
here  also  at  our  very  doors  for  the  operation  of  this 
principle,  that  every  privilege  is  of  the  nature  of  a 
trust. 

We  all  admit  that  the  possession  of  spiritual  bless- 
ing involves  responsibility,  but  in  making  the  admis- 
sion we  think  almost  exclusively  of  responsibility  for 
ourselves.  We  feel  that  because  we  have  so  much, 
therefore  we  ought  to  he  so  much.  Because  we  have 
the  Bible  and  the  sanctuary  and  church  ordinances, 
and  the  like,  therefore  we  ought  to  make  the  best 
and  the  most  of  these  for  our  own  individual  sancti- 
fication.  Our  holiness  ought  to  be  the  result  of  our 
privileges.  And  so  far  so  well.  That  is  all  true,  and 
no  one  can  gainsay  it,  but  it  is  not  all  the  truth  ;  for 
we  have  these  privileges  that  we  may  pass  them  on 
to  others.  Eemember,  the  principle  of  my  text  is, 
that  he  who  has,  is  debtor  to  him  who  has  not.  If  we 
have  the  Bible  and  others  are  without  it,  then  we 
owe  the  Bible  to  those  who  have  not  yet  received 
it.  If  we  have  a  church  edifice,  and  others  have 
no  place  wherein  they  may  gather  for  the  worship 
of  God,  and  no  means  to  rear  one,  while  we  have  the 
power  to  help  them,  then  we  owe  churches  to  those 
destitute  ones.  If  we  have  a  minister  whose  words 
on  the  Lord's  day  are  full  of  inspiration  and  strength 
to  us,  and  others  have  no  stated  ordinances,  then  we 
owe  it  to  these  others  that  men  shall  be  commissioned 
to  preach  unto  them  the  word  of  life,  and  to  gather 


198  DEBTORS. 

them  into  Christian  communities  for  mutual  edifica- 
tion and  for  the  further  extension  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ.  Yes,  I  say  we  owe  it  to  them,  for  the  plea 
here  is  not  to  our  generosity  but  to  oar  justice,  and 
unless  we  honor  it,  we  must  stand  forth  at  last  before 
God  and  the  world  as  defaulters,  and  that  in  a  depart- 
ment where  the  loss  from  our  unfaithfulness  is  one 
that  cannot  be  comj)uted  in  dollars  and  cents,  but 
must  be  reckoned  in  the  souls  of  immortal  men.  Ah ! 
if  we  who  profess  and  call  ourselves  Christians  did 
but  feel  the  full  force  of  this  obligation  as  Paul  felt 
it,  how  soon  would  the  world  be  converted  unto 
Christ?  How  easy  then  would  become  the  solution 
of  that  problem  which  presses  so  heavily  upon  the 
heart  of  every  faithful  minister  in  this  city,  How  shall 
the  great  j)opulation  round  about  us  be  thoroughly 
evangelized  ?  There  are  Christians  enough  in  all  our 
churches  to  do  the  work  if  each  of  them  would  say 
with  Paul,  "  I  am  a  debtor  "  to  all  around  me  who 
know  not  the  gospel  of  the  Lord,  and  would  realize 
that  he  has  received  the  glad  evangel  as  a  trust  for 
those  who  have  not  yet  heard  its  message  of  mercy. 
My  brethren,  when  I  put  the  matter  thus  I  am  over- 
whelmed with  the  sense  of  the  obligation  that  I  am 
seeking  to  enforce,  and  am  constrained  to  cry  for 
myself  as  my  own  shortcomings  rise  up  before  me  : 
"  Deliver  me  from  blood-guiltiness,  O  God,  thou  God 
of  my  salvation."  We  execrate  the  deed  of  her  who, 
having  received  a  ring  from  the  imprisoned  noble- 
man under  the  promise  that  she  would  take  it  and  let 
it  plead  for  him  with  his  queen,  held  back  the  token 
and  allowed  him  to  go  unforgiven  to  the  block.  We 
loathe  the  treachery  of  those  who,  having  in  their 
hands  a  reprieve  for  the  brave  old  Covenanter,  kept 
it  to  themselves  and  sent  him  to  the  scaffold.     And 


DEBTORS.  199 

we  !  God  telp  us  !  we,  with  the  gospel  that  proclaims 
mercy  to  mankind  in  our  hands,  let  multitudes  go 
down  undone  to  an  eternity  without  telling  them  the 
good  news  or  seeking  to  lift  them  from  their  degra- 
dation !  Yet,  let  us  be  thankful,  we  are  doing  some- 
thing— would  that  it  were  more — but  we  are  doing 
something,  and  to-day  you  are  asked  to  give  your 
contributions  to  keep  up  the  work.  The  Bethany 
Mission  makes  its  appeal  to  you  once  more.  It 
asks  you  for  the  means  of  carrying  on  its  operations 
for  another  year.  Give  it  in  full,  and  let  the  offer- 
ing of  to-day  be  the  prophecy  of  a  yet  larger  liber- 
ality when  you  shall  be  requested  to  rear  for  them  a 
building  of  their  own.*  We  are  debtors  to  those  seven 
hundred  children  and  to  those  one  hundred  and 
twenty  church  members,  because  we  are  debtors  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  May  he  help  us  now  in  some 
degree  to  meet  the  obligation ! 

February  26,  1882. 


*  It  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  state  that  since  this  discourse  was 
preached  the  new  Bethany  Church,  on  Tenth  Avenue  near  Thirty- 
sixth  Street,  has  been  built  by  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church,  at 
a  cost  of  $58,000,  of  which  about  three-fourths  has  been  already  paid. 


THE  EEVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH. 

Deuteronomy  sxsiii.  IG.  The  good-will  of  him  that  dwelt  in  the 
bush. 

In  recent  days  there  lias  been  mucli  debate  among 
critics  as  to  the  authorship  of  the  book  of  Deuteron- 
omy, and  many  have  supposed  that  its  date  must  be 
fixed  far  down  in  the  history  of  IsraeL  The  grounds 
on  which  such  an  opinion  is  advanced  seem  to  me  far 
too  slender  for  the  support  of  so  sweeping  a  conclu- 
sion. The  objections  to  it  are  so  serious  as  to  be 
utterly  insurmountable  save  by  evidence  of  the  clear- 
est sort ;  and  the  different  views  which  have  been  sub- 
stituted for  that  commonly  believed  among  us  are  so 
inconsistent  with  each  other  as  to  be  mutually  de- 
structive. For  all  these  reasons,  therefore,  I  am  con- 
strained, in  spite  of  the  learned  dissertations  of  the  so- 
called  higher  critics,  to  rest  in  the  conviction  that, 
with  the  exception  of  the  last  chapter,  and  some  few 
editorial  additions  here  and  there  which  can  be  easily 
distinguished  even  by  the  English  reader,  the  book, 
as  a  whole,  is,  as  it  purports  to  be,  the  work  of  Moses 
himself. 

But,  however  the  case  may  stand  with  the  work  as 
a  unit,  the  words  of  my  text  are  decisive  as  to  the 
authorship  of  the  blessing  of  which  they  form  a  part. 
Every  jurist  is  familiar  with  the  story  of  the  judge 
who  upset  the  argument  in  favor  of  the  antiquity  of  a 
document  by  holding  it  up  between  him  and  the  light, 
and  revealing  in  the  water-mark  of  the  paper  itself  a 
date  far  later  than  that  which  had  been  claimed  for  the 


THE  REVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH.  201 

writing  upon  it.  Now,  such  a  water-mark  is  tlie  phrase 
before  us  ;  only  in  this  case  it  goes  to  establish  the  anti- 
quity rather  than  the  recentness  of  that  of  which  it 
forms  a  part  and  into  which  it  is  inwoven.  For  the 
reference  in  it  is  to  a  personal  experience.  It  was, 
therefore,  quite  natural  that  Moses  should  make  it,  and 
just  as  improbable  that  it  should  be  made  by  another. 
The  force  of  this  consideration  becomes  all  the  stronger 
when  we  reflect  that,  unusual  as  the  experience  al- 
luded to  undeniably  was,  there  is  not  a  single  refer- 
ence to  it  in  the  whole  compass  of  Hebrew  literature 
but  this.  None  of  the  writers  at  any  one  of  the  differ- 
ent dates  which  have  been  fixed  upon  by  the  higher 
critics  for  the  production  of  this  book  has  said  a  word 
that  even  hints  at  the  vision  which  was  given  to  Mo- 
ses at  the  bush.  Neither  in  the  psalms  nor  in  the 
proj)hets,  whether  before  or  after  the  exile,  do  we  find 
the  slightest  mention  of  it,  and  so  if  an  unknown 
author  in  any  one  of  those  eras  had  been  seeking  to 
personate  Moses,  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  unlikely, 
judging  by  contemporary  documents,  that  he  would 
have  sought  to  put  these  words  into  his  mouth.  So 
far  as  appears  from  the  other  books  of  the  Hebrews, 
and  however  unaccountable  to  us  it  may  seem,  the  rev- 
elation made  by  Jehovah  at  the  bush  had  been  very 
largely  lost  sight  of  by  them,  or,  at  all  events,  it  was 
not  a  thing  usually  referred  to  among  them,  and  there- 
fore it  would  have  been  unnatural  for  any  one  writing 
then,  in  the  name  of  Moses,  to  speak  in  this  casual 
and  incidental  way  about  it.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
how  perfectly  natural  such  an  allusion  is  in  the  mouth 
of  Moses  himself!  For  he  could  never  forget  that 
day  in  Horeb.  Beautifully  has  Matthew  Henry  said 
in  this  connection  :  "  Many  a  time  God  had  appeared 
to  Moses,  but  now  [that]  he  is  just  dying,  he  seems  to 


202        THE  KEVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH. 

have  the  most  pleasing  remembrance  of  that  which 
was  the  first  time,  when  his  acquaintance  with  the 
visions  of  the  Almighty  first  began,  and  his  corre- 
spondence with  heaven  was  first  settled  ;  that  was 
a  'time  of  love'  never  to  be  forgotten."  So  it  was 
quite  artless  and  unpremeditated  in  Moses  to  speak 
here  of  "  the  good-will  of  him  that  dwelt  in  the  bush," 
and  the  reference  is  what  may  be  called  a  water-mark 
which  proves  the  authenticity  of  the  tribal  blessings 
of  which  it  forms  a  part.  It  is  a  little  thing,  such  as 
no  pretended  Moses  could  have  thought  of,  but  per- 
fectly natural  for  Moses  himself  to  say  ;  and  by  all  the 
laws  of  evidence  the  very  littleness  of  the  thing  makes 
it  just  so  much  the  stronger  as  a  proof. 

But,  leaving  this  matter  of  criticism,  let  us  go  on  to 
inquire  what  we  are  to  understand  by  "  the  good-will 
of  him  that  dwelt  in  the  bush."  You  are  familiar  with 
the  history.  After  forty  years  of  shepherd-life  in 
Midian,  during  which,  by  communion  with  God  amid 
nature's  wildest  solitudes,  Moses  had  wrought  himself 
clear  of  that  self-confident  rashness  Avhicli  had  marked 
his  earliest  attempt  at  advancing  the  cause  of  the 
Hebrews  in  Egypt,  he  was  startled  Avith  the  sight,  in 
the  desert,  of  a  bush  which  seemed  to  be  on  fire  and  yet 
was  not  consumed.  As  he  turned  aside  to  look  upon  the 
strange  spectacle,  he  heard  a  voice  which  he  instinct- 
ively recognized  as  that  of  God  commanding  him  to  put 
off  his  shoes  from  his  feet,  because  the  place  whereon 
he  stood  was  holy  ground  ;  and  then,  after  long  con- 
ference, he  was  constrained  to  accept  a  commission  to 
deliver  his  kinsmen  from  the  cruelty  of  the  oppressor. 
There  was  here,  therefore,  a  revelation  both  in  symbol 
and  in  word.  These  two  ran  parallel  to  each  other,  or, 
rather,  they  were  not  so  much  two  as  one,  and  when 
Moses  speaks  of  "  him  that  dwelt  in  the  bush,"  he 


THE   REVELATION  AT  THj]    BUSH.  203 

must  be  understood  as  referring  to  the  sum  total  of 
that  truth  regarding  God  which  he  received  both  from 
what  he  saw  and  from  what  he  heard  on  the  memo- 
rable occasion  to  which  he  refers.  To  get  at  that,  there- 
fore, we  shall  have  to  consider  both,  that  we  may  read 
each  in  the  light  of  the  other ;  and  when  we  do  so,  we 
shall  discover  not  only  that  they  mutually  supplement 
each  other,  but,  also,  that  they  have  a  wondrously  pre- 
cious significance  for  us. 


•  I.  Let  us  take,  first,  the  revelation  through  the 
symbol.  Moses  saw  a  bush  apparently  aflame,  and 
yet  unburned.  The  fire  did  no  injury  to  the  acacia 
branch,  but  only  made  the  greenness  of  the  leaves 
more  conspicuous  by  the  contrast.  Now  what  was  the 
meaning  of  this  emblematic  representation?  It  has 
eommonly  been  regarded  as  a  figure  of  the  Israelites 
in  Egypt  subjected  to  the  fiery  ordeal  of  persecution 
at  the  hand  of  Pharaoh  ;  and  yet  only  multiplying  the 
more  the  more  they  were  oppressed.  The  church  of 
God,  so  it  is  said,  is  here  shown  to  be  indestructible  ; 
and  this  is  proved  by  the  martyrology  of  the  ages.  In 
perfect  harmony,  therefore,  with  this  traditional  in- 
terpretation of  the  symbol  the  Church  of  Scotland 
has  taken  for  its  seal  a  representation  of  the  burning 
bush  with  the  motto,  "  Nee  tamen  consumebatur  "  ("  yet 
it  was  not  consumed  ").  Now  that  is  truth,  and  very 
important  truth  ;  it  is  truth,  too,  which  in  any  case 
will  come  to  be  included  in  a  full  exposition  of  the 
meaning  of  the  symbol ;  but  still,  though  I  put  it  forth 
in  my  discourses  on  the  life  of  Moses  as  the  chief 
thing  taught  by  this  divine  object-lesson,*  I  have  come 
to  the  conclusion,  on  mature  reflection,  that  such  an 

*  See  Moses  the  Law  Gi  ver,  p.  47. 


204        THE  EEVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH. 

interpretation  proceeds  upon  a  wrong  principle.  It 
makes  the  fire  represent  the  furnace  of  affliction  in 
which  the  Hebrews  were  then  burning  ;  but  if  that  be 
so,  where  is  the  emblem  of  the  divine  presence  which 
made  holy  the  place  in  which  it  was  manifested  ?  If 
God  were  there  under  a  visible  symbol  at  all  (and  we 
must  believe  that  he  was,  for  does  not  Moses  here 
sjDeak  of  him  as  "dwelling"  in  the  bush?)  then  he  was 
there  invailed  in  the  fire.  Under  the  whole  Mosaic 
economy,  God  was  partially  revealed  and  partially  con- 
cealed in  the  glory  flame-cloud  which  as  vapor  by  day 
and  flame  by  night  hovered  over  the  encampment  of 
the  tribes  in  the  wilderness,  and  which  at  length  set- 
tled into  the  Shekinah  that  dwelt  between  the  cheru- 
bim in  the  holy  of  holies  of  the  tabernacle.  It  is, 
therefore,  much  more  thoroughly  in  harmony  not  only 
with  the  verbal  communications  made  by  Jehovah  at 
the  time  to  Moses,  but  also  with  the  whole  tenor  of 
the  Mosaic  system,  to  take  the  fire  here  as  the  form 
under  which  Deity  for  the  moment  had  made  Himself 
visible  ratlier  than  as  the  emblem  of  the  furnace  to 
which  the  Hebrews  were  exposed  in  their  house  of 
bondage.  We  have  here,  in  a  word,  the  first  appear- 
ance of  the  Shekinah  which  ultimately  overshadowed 
the  mercy  seat ;  and  in  the  command,  "  Draw  not  nigh 
hither,"  we  have  the  forerunner  of  the  vail  which 
shrouded  the  innermost  sanctuary  from  view,  and  kept 
all  irreverent  intruders  from  entering  the  place  which 
was  open  only  to  the  high  priest,  and  to  him  only 
when  he  went  in  with  the  blood  of  the  atonement- 
The  fire,  then,  is  the  visible  token  of  the  divine  pres- 
ence. 

But  what  of  the  bush  ?  The  answer  is  already  fur- 
nished by  our  interpretation  of  the  glory  flame.  It  is 
that  in  which  the  presence  of  God  was  dwelling,  and  so 


THE   KEVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH.  205 

we  regard  it  as  the  emblem  of  him  in  whom  the  true 
Shekinah  abode  ;  in  whom  the  "Word  became  flesh ; 
in  whose  humanity  alone  deity  could  reside  without 
consuming  it  as  it  would  certainly  have  consumed  any 
other  humanity,  and  whose  glory  as  of  the  Only  Be- 
gotten of  the  Father  men  beheld  "  full  of  grace,  and  full 
of  truth."  And  we  may,  perhaps,  see  a  corroboration 
of  the  truth  of  this  view  in  the  predictions  of  a  later 
day  which  spoke  after  this  fashion,  "  Behold  the  man 
whose  name  is  the  Branch  !  "  "  Behold  I  will  bring 
forth  my  servant  the  Branch."  Even  as  afterwards  in 
the  tabernacle  one  of  the  great  meanings  of  its  symbol- 
ism was  Incarnation ;  so  we  have  the  same  thing  here  in 
the  bush  ;  and  thus  the  theophany  then  vouchsafed  to 
Moses  takes  its  place  in  the  line  of  those  anticipations, 
as  I  may  call  them,  of  the  advent,  of  which  we  have  so 
many  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  especially  reminds  us 
of  the  appearance  of  the  Peniel  angel  to  Jacob,  and 
that  of  the  Captain  of  the  host  of  the  Lord  to  Joshua. 
These  were  all  alike  the  forecast  shadows  of  him  in 
whom  God  was  "  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  and  each  had 
its  own  light  to  shed  on  the  wondrous  Incarnation  for 
which  they  were  all  preparatory.  This  view  of  the 
matter  is  confirmed  by  the  expressions  used  in  the  his- 
tory to  which  my  text  refers,  for  there  we  read,  "  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  to  him  in  the  flame  of 
fire  out  of  the  midst  of  a  bush  "  ;  and  "  God  called 
unto  him  out  of  the  midst  of  the  bush,"  so  that  no 
created  angel  can  be  meant,  but  indeed  "  the  Angel  of 
the  Covenant,"  who  is  the  fellow  of  the  Almighty,  and 
who  for  us  men  and  for  our  salvation  became  Incar- 
nate in  the  Son  of  Mary. 

But  God  in  Christ  is  thereby  also  in  the  church, 
which  is  the  body  of  Christ,  and  as  such  he  is  the 
source  of  its  indestructibility.     Here,   therefore,  we 


206        THE  KEVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH. 

get  at  the  tliought  wliich  has  commonly  been  con- 
nected with  this  revelation  at  the  bush  ;  but  it  is  sub- 
ordinate to  the  main  teaching,  and  indeed  an  inference 
from  it ;  and  it  may  be  carried  still  farther,  since  God 
in  Christ  is  thereby  also  in  every  individual  believer, 
for  is  not  the  Christian  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  at 
once  purified  and  protected  by  the  flame  of  the  in- 
dwelling Spirit  ?  Now,  if  all  this  be  true,  the  good- 
will of  him  that  dwelt  in  the  bush  is,  in  New  Testa- 
ment phraseology,  "  the  grace  "  or  favor  "  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,"  or,  which  comes  to  the  same  thing,  of 
God  in  Jesus  Christ. 

II.  But  now  let  us  look  at  the  conference  of  this 
divine  angel  with  Moges  at  the  bush,  and  see  how 
this  view  is  confirmed.  In  reading  over  these  two 
chapters  of  Exodus — the  third  and  fourth — we  are 
impressed  with  the  following  things  concerning  the 
mysterious  One  who  spoke  to  Moses  out  of  the  midst 
of  the  bush  : 

1.  In  the  first  place,  he  calls  himself  by  the  incom- 
municable name.  "When  Moses,  shrinking  from  the 
magnitude  of  the  task  laid  upon  him,  wished  to  know 
what  he  should  say  if  the  people  to  whom  he  went 
should  ask.  Who  sent  you  ?  what  is  his  name  ?  this 
answer  was  given  him  :  "  I  AM  that  I  am.  Thus  shalt 
thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  I  AM  hath  sent 
me  unto  you."  I  am — it  is  the  expression  of  inde- 
pendent self-existence — aj)propriate  to  none  but  Deity, 
whose  consciousness  is  an  eternal  present.  The 
thought  is  overwhelming  ;  yet,  overwhelming  as  it  is, 
it  is  also  steadying  and  comforting  in  its  influence,  and 
I  do  not  wonder  that  years  after  Moses  had  heard  these 
words  at  the  bush,  and  when  he  saw  his  fellow-men 
falling  in  death  by  his  side,  he  found  his  consolation 


THE  REVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH.        207 

in  the  tnith  which,  it  revealed,  and  said  in  his  psalm  : 
"  Lord,  thou  hast  been  our  dwelling-place  in  all  gen- 
erations. Before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth, 
or  even  thou  hadst  formed  the  earth  and  the  world, 
even  from  everlasting  to  everlasting,  thou  aet — God." 
But  what  I  am  more  concerned  to  show  you  now  is 
that  in  the  New  Testament  we  find  the  same  claim 
advanced  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  for  when  the 
Jews  said  to  him  :  "  Thou  art  not  yet  fifty  years  old, 
and  hast  thou  seen  Abraham  ?  "  he  replied :  "  Be- 
fore Abraham  was  born  I  am."  And  indeed,  as  I  have 
more  than  once  showed  you,'^  we  have  in  the  fourth 
gospel  a  series  of  similar  I  ams,  whereby  Jesus  re- 
vealed himself  to  those  around  him  as  the  Jehovah  of 
the  Old  Testament  dwelling  in  human  nature,  even  as 
here  the  glory  flame  abode  in  the  bush.  You  remem- 
ber them  well.  They  are  such  as  these  :  "  I  am  the 
bread  of  life  ; "  "I  am  the  light  of  the  world  ;  "  I  am 
the  Good  Shepherd;"  "I  AM  the  door;"  "I  am  the 
resurrection  and  the  Life  ; "  "I  am  the  way,  the  truth 
and  the  Life  ;  "  "I  am  the  true  vine  ; "  and  the  time 
when,  through  these  announcements,  a  soul  perceives 
the  Deity  of  Jesus  is  for  that  soul  the  supreme  mo- 
ment of  its  existence  when,  like  Moses  here,  it  re- 
ceives its  commission  to  its  proper  life  work.  So 
again,  in  the  opening  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Revela- 
tion, we  have  the  Lord  speaking  of  himself  in  the 
like  fashion,  thus  :  "  I  AM  Alpha  and  Omega,  the 
beginning  and  the  ending,  which  is,  and  which  was, 
and  which  is  to  come,"  while  the  author  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  has  crystallized  the  same 
truth  into  this  dogmatic  statement :  "  Jesus  Christ, 
the   same   yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever."     So  here 


*  See  "The  Limitations  of  Life  and  Other  Sermons,"  p.  23. 


208        THE  REVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH. 

again  "ue  find  that  tlie  I  AM  in  the  bush  is  the  an- 
ticipation of  the  Jesus  whom  we  know  and  worship 
as  our  Redeemer,  and  whose  "  good-will"  is  that  favor 
in  which  is  life. 

2.  But,  in  the  second  place,  we  find  from  this  con- 
ference at  the  bush  that  the  divine  angel  who  spoke 
with  Moses  there  is  the  covenant  God,  for  he  said  : 
"  I  am  the  God  of  thy  father,  the  God  of  Abraham, 
the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob."  In  his 
reasoning  with  the  Sadducees  of  his  day,  the  Saviour 
drew  from  these  words  an  argument  for  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body ;  for  as  God  is  not  the  God  of 
the  dead  but  of  the  living,  it  must  follow  that  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  and  Jacob  were  still  in  existence  when 
God  so  described  himself,  and  as  such  would  yet 
have  their  humanity  perfected  and  glorified.  The 
Sadducees  grounded  their  objection  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  on  their  rejection  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  and  the  Lord  answers  in  this  way  the 
underlying  heresy  of  his  antagonists,  leaving  it  to  his 
own  resurrection  to  prove  the  falsity  of  that  which 
they  had  built  thereon.  My  business  now,  however, 
is  not  with  that  aspect  of  the  words,  but  rather  with 
the  covenant  relation  which  they  express  ;  and  we 
know  that  on  a  memorable  occasion  Christ  startled  his 
hearers  with  the  assertion  that  many  should  come 
from  the  East  and  from  the  West,  and  should  sit  down 
with  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven — words  which  clearly  imply  that  the  kingdom 
which  he  founded,  and  of  which  he  is  the  head,  is  the 
carrying  out  of  the  covenant  made  with  the  old  patri- 
arch, so  that  he  claims  to  be  the  God  of  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob.  To  the  same  effect  are  Paul's  words 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  when  he  says  :  "  They 
which  are  of  faith  are  blessed  with  faithful  Abraham," 


THE  EEVELATION  AT   THE   BUSH,  209 

implying  tliat  Abraham's  faitli  in  Jeliovali,  as  revealed 
to  him,  is  the  same  in  its  nature,  its  object,  and  its 
effects  as  our  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  that  is 
to  say,  that  he  who  revealed  himself  as  the  God  of 
Abraham  is  he  whom  we  now  know  as  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

3.  But  in  the  third  place  we  find  from  this 
conference  at  the  bush,  that  the  divine  angel  who 
spoke  to  Moses  is  the  omniscient  God  who  knows  all 
his  people's  troubles  and  comes  to  their  deliverance. 
He  said  :  "  I  have  surely  seen  the  afHictions  of  my  peo- 
ple which  are  in  Egypt  and  have  heard  their  cry  by 
reason  of  their  taskmasters ;  for  I  know  their  sorroAvs, 
and  I  am  come  down  to  deliver  them  out  of  the  hand 
of  the  Egyptians."  Pharaoh  had  long  oppressed 
them,  making  their  lives  bitter  with  hard  bondage, 
and  there  seemed  to  be  no  divine  protest  against  his 
procedure.  It  looked  almost  as  if  God  had  forgotten 
the  Hebrews,  and  for  generations  they  were  cruelly 
maltreated.  But  he  was  not  unmindful  of  them,  and 
in  the  fullness  of  time  he  sent  Moses  to  be  their  eman- 
cipator. Kow,  have  we  not  here  in  miniature,  and  on 
a  small 'scale,  the  very  same  thing  which  we  see  on  the 
wider  area  of  the  world,  and  in  the  ampler  scope  of 
human  history  as  a  whole  ?  For  centuries  God  al- 
lowed the  Pharaohs  to  grind  the  Hebrews  in  slavery. 
We  cannot  understand  his  silence.  His  forbear- 
ance with  evil  and  injustice  is  to  us  incomprehensi- 
ble. Yet  it  is  a  precisely  parallel  case  to  his  treat- 
ment of  the  human  race  as  a  whole,  only  for  "  centuries  " 
there  we  must  read  millenniums.  For  long  he  allowed 
sin  to  be  apparently  triumphant.  He  did  not  inter- 
pose to  check  it  among  the  nations  generally  until 
the  advent.  As  Paul  said  to  the  philosophers  at 
Athens,  "  the  times  of  this  ignorance  God  overlooked," 


210        THE  EEVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH. 

and  it  was  not  until  tlie  fullness  of  tlie  time  that  lie 
came  to  deliver  men  from  its  curse.  We  cannot 
understand  tlie  delay ;  but  it  is  in  the  case  of  the 
world  no  more  incomprehensible  than  it  was  in  that 
of  the  Hebrews.  True,  in  the  latter  the  years  of  the 
delay  were  not  so  numerous,  and  the  people  affected 
were  not  so  many,  but  the  principle  in  both  is  the 
same,  and  if  the  Hebrews  did  not  reject  their  deliver- 
ance because  it  was  so  long  in  coming,  why  should 
we  refuse  salvation  because  Christ  did  not  come  to 
the  world  sooner  with  its  blessings  ?  More  especially 
as,  when  he  did  come,  he  came  with  a  compassion 
identical  with  that  expressed  for  the  Hebrews  at  the 
bush.  Listen  to  these  words :  "  The  Son  of  Man  is 
come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  "  The 
Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto  but  to 
minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many."  "  I 
am  come  that  ye  may  have  life  and  may  have  it  more 
abundantly."  Are  they  not  all  in  harmony  with  this  ? 
*'  I  am  come  down  to  deliver  them  out  of  the  hand  of 
the  Egyptians."  May  we  not  infer,  therefore,  that 
they  came  from  the  same  heart,  and  that  the  Jehovah 
of  the  bush  is  the  Jesus  of  the  cross  ? 

4.  But,  in  the  fourth  place,  we  see  from  this  confer- 
ence at  the  bush  that  the  divine  angel  who  spoke  to  Mo- 
ses there  is  the  long-suffering  God  who  bears  with  the 
waywardness  of  his  people.  How  tenderly  he  treated 
Moses  on  that  occasion  !  From  the  extreme  of  rash- 
ness the  son  of  Amram  had  recoiled  to  that  of  timid- 
ity ;  and  he  who,  forty  years  before,  attempted  to  run 
without  being  sent,  now  seeks  to  decline  his  commis- 
sion altogether.  He  is  profuse  in  excuses,  such  as 
that  he  was  unworthy  of  the  honor  which  was  offered 
him ;  that  he  was  unable  to  answer  the  Israelites 
if  they   should   ask   him    "  Who   sent  you  ? "  :   that 


THE  EEVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH.  211 

even  if  lie  went  the  people  would  not  believe  liim  ; 
and  that  he  was  not  eloquent,  but  slow  of  speech 
and  of  a  slow  tongue.  These  were  the  pretexts  which 
he  put  forward  in  order,  if  possible,  to  evade  the 
duty  that  was  laid  upon  him,  but  out  of  them  all 
God  nourished  him  into  such  strength  that  he  went 
at  length,  and  became  the  leader  of  the  Exodus. 
Now,  it  is  scarcely"  possible  for  any  one  to  read  the 
account  of  this  conference  without  being  reminded 
of  our  Lord's  training  of  his  chosen  apostles  ;  how 
he  bore  with  their  weaknesses  and  waywardnesses, 
teaching  them  as  they  were  able  to  receive  it,  and 
bringing  them  up,  at  last,  to  such  a  point  that  Peter 
had  to  say,  "We  cannot  but  speak  the  things  which 
we  have  seen  and  heard,"  and  Paul  had  to  declare 
that  necessity  was  laid  upon  him,  yea,  woe  was  unto 
him  if  he  preached  not  the  gospel !  In  this  confer- 
ence, in  the  desert  of  Midian,  we  have  thus,  I  make 
bold  to  say,  an  anticipation  and  synopsis,  under  Old 
Testament  forms,  of  the  whole  training  of  the  twelve 
by  Jesus  for  their  work,  as  it  is  recorded  in  the  four 
gospels,  and  so  the  inference  is  inevitable  that  the  Je- 
hovah of  the  bush  is  the  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 

5.  To  mention  only  one  point  more,  this  divine 
angel  is  the  God  who  promises  to  be  with  his  people 
in  all  their  history.  "When  Moses  said,  "  Who  am  I 
that  I  should  go  to  Pharaoh  ?  "  the  voice  out  of  the 
bush  answered,  "  Certainly  I  will  be  with  thee."  So, 
after  Jesus  had  said  to  his  followers,  "  Go  ye,  there- 
fore, and  disciple  all  nations,  baj^tizing  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatso- 
ever I  have  commanded  you  "  ;  and  when,  perhaps,  he 
saw  on  their  countenances  an  exj)ression  of  consterna- 
tion at  the  magnitude  of  the   charge  which  he  had 


212        THE  EEVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH. 

given  them,  lie  added,  "  And  lo  !  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  nnto  the  end  of  the  woild."  A  large  promise 
which  only  Deity  would  dare  to  make,  and  which,  in 
its  likeness  to  the  words  addressed  to  Moses—"  Cer- 
tainly I  will  be  with  thee  " — indicates  that  it  came 
from  the  same  divine  source.  Thus,  whether  we  look 
at  the  significance  of  the  symbol  in  itself  considered, 
or  at  the  conference  which  was  carried  on  in  connec- 
tion with  it,  we  are  warranted,  I  think,  if  not  required, 
to  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Jehovah  of  the 
bush  is  the  Jesus  of  the  New  Testament,  of  whom 
it  is  written  that  "  he  shall  save  his  people  from 
their  sins."  "The  good-will  of  him  that  dwelt  in  the 
bush"  is,  therefore,  equivalent  to  "the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ "  ;  and  so,  every  time  the  apostolic 
benediction  is  pronounced,  the  pastor  supplicates  for 
his  peojile  precisely  the  same  spiritual  blessing  that 
Moses  here  requested  for  the  descendants  of  Joseph, 
along  with,  and  supplementary  to,  the  temporal  pros- 
perity on  which  he  dwells  so  lovingly  and  long.  For 
worldly  wealth  is  of  little  value  if  we  have  not  the  di- 
vine good-will  with  it.  If  we  are  poor  that  good-will 
is  of  itself  an  ample  portion ;  and  if  we  are  rich,  it  will 
make  our  riches  harmless  to  us,  by  teaching  us  to  turn 
them  into  means  of  blessing  to  others ;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  if  we  despise  the  favors  of  our  cove- 
nant God,  and  seek  only  the  wealth  of  earth,  we  shall 
iiltimately  lose  both,  and  find  ourselves  at  last,  like 
the  descendants  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  hopelessly 
captive  in  the  grasp  of  our  destroyer.  Above  every- 
thing else,  therefore,  and  along  with  everj^thing  else, 
let  us  seek  this  favor  by  faith  in  and  faithfulness  to 
the  Lord  Jesus,  and  we  shall  discover,  as  we  go  on, 
that  he  is  true  to  us  in  every  emergency  and  through 
every  vicissitude. 


THE  KEVELATION  AT  THE   BUSH.  213 

For  I  must  not  neglect  to  add  that  in  the  mouth 
of  Moses  the  words  "The  good-will  of  him  that 
dwelt  in  tlie  bush "  had,  in  this  blessing  of  the 
tribe  of  Joseph  just  before  he  died,  a  far  richer 
significance  than  they  could  have  had  on  then  when, 
after  having  seen  the  great  sight  and  heard  the  great 
words,  he  turned  away  from  the  desert  of  Midian,  and 
took  his  journey  into  Egyjjt.  He  went  on  there  in 
faith,  but  now  he  could  look  back  upon  a  rich  expe- 
rience. Between  the  bush  and  the  plains  of  Moab 
lay  forty  years  of  the  fullest  realization  of  all  that  Je- 
hovah had  promised,  and  so  he  commended  Joseph's 
children  to  one  whom  he  knew  to  be  faithful  to  his 
word.  Had  he  not  been  to  Egypt  and  brought  out 
his  people  into  freedom  ?  Had  he  not  enjoyed  closest 
fellowship  with  God  as  a  man  talketh  with  his  friend? 
Had  lie  not  been  directed  by  him  in  every  difficulty 
and  provided  for  by  him  in  every  strait  ?  Whom  he 
had  proved,  therefore,  they  might  trust.  The  Lord 
who  had  with  him  stood  the  strain  of  the  Exodus,  and 
the  test  of  the  wilderness  wanderings,  would  not  fail 
them  in  their  time  of  need.  He  had  been  with  him, 
and  he  would  be  with  them.  And  is  not  this  true  of  our 
Jesus  yet  ?  Whom  has  he  failed  ?  When  has  he  broken 
his  word  ?  Who  dares  to  say  that  he  has  gone  to  him 
and  been  cast  out  ?  Is  it  not  the  unvarying  testimony 
of  his  people  in  all  generations  that  they  never  found 
him  wanting  ?  Come,  therefore,  and  prove  his  good- 
will now  to  you.  For,  while  there  is  so  much  that  is 
j3arallel  to  tlie  gospel  in  this  conference  between  Je- 
hovah and  Moses  at  Midian,  there  is  in  one  point  a 
marked  difference  between  the  two.  The  Jehovah  of 
the  bush  said,  "  Draw  not  nigh  hither,"  but  the  Jesus 
of  the  cross  says,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."     But 


214         THE  REVELATION  AT  THE  BUSH. 

that  is  just  the  great  distinction  between  the  old  dis- 
pensation and  the  new,  and  it  was  rendered  necessary 
by  the  circumstances  of  the  times.  In  those  ancient 
days  tlie  world  was  not  ready  to  receive  the  gospel 
invitation.  There  needed  yet  a  long  education  before 
men  would  listen  to  it  either  with  patience  or  ajjpre- 
ciation,  and  so  the  truth,  while  preserved  among  them 
in  the  figurative  system  of  Judaism,  needed  also  to  be 
protected  from  them  by  the  restrictions  which  hedged 
that  system  round.  These  restrictions  were  like  the 
horn  framework  of  the  lantern  through  which  the  light 
shone,  no  doubt,  only  dimly,  but  by  which,  also,  it 
was  kept  from  being  extinguished  by  the  rude  blasts 
of  idolatry  and  immorality.  Now,  however,  they  have 
served  their  purpose  and  are  no  longer  needed.  The 
vail  of  the  temple  has  been  rent  asunder  ;  the  temple 
itself  has  disappeared  ;  and,  instead  of  the  "  draw  not 
nigh,"  we  may  hear  the  '•'  come  unto  me  "  ;  "for  in  him 
we  have  boldness  and  access  with  confidence  by  the 
faith  of  him."  "  Whosoever  will,"  therefore,  let  him 
come  and  claim  this  divine  good-will.  Any  one  may 
get  it  through  faith  in  Jesus,  and  he  who  secures  it 
"  has  chosen  the  good  part  which  shall  not  be  taken 
from  him."  Did  not  the  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host 
sing  in  the  hearing  of  Bethlehem's  shepherds,  "  Glory 
to  God  in  the  highest ;  peace  on  earth,  and  good-will 
to  men  ?  " — to  men,  not  to  the  sons  of  Joseph  merely, 
nor  to  the  Hebrew  nation  alone,  but  to  men.  Come, 
then,  O  burdened  one,  whatever  thy  load  may  be, 
whether  sin,  or  sorrow,  or  perplexity,  or  want,  or 
whatever  else,  come  and  claim  thy  share  in  this 
blessed  benison  for  humanity,  and  then  thou  shalt 
realize  how  much  is  meant  by  "the  good-will  of  him 
who  dwelt  in  the  bush." 

March  5,  1882. 


TRUE  GREATNESS. 

Matthew  xs.  2G,  27,  28.  Whosoever  will  be  great  among  you, 
let  him  be  your  minister,  and  whosoever  will  be  chief  among  you 
let  him  be  your  servant,  even  as  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  min- 
istered unto,  but  to  minister  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many. 

Ambition  is  natural  to  man.  The  desire  of  great- 
ness is  inherent  in  every  human  spirit,  and  even  the 
schoolboy's  heart  throbs  with  responsive  enthusiasm 
when  he  reads  the  Homeric  hero's  injunction  to  his 
son,  "  always  to  be  the  best  and  superior  to  all  others." 
Depravity,  indeed,  has  turned  this  principle  to  evil 
account,  but  it  was  implanted  in  us  for  the  noblest 
purposes,  and  it  is,  even  in  our  present  state,  a  witness 
to  the  immortal  progress  for  which  we  were  originally 
designed.  Next  to  the  having  of  a  wrong  ambition, 
the  worst  thing  that  can  befall  a  man  is  to  have  no 
ambition  at  all,  for  then  the  mainspring  of  his  soul  is 
broken,  and  his  energy  and  elevation  are  at  an  end.  It 
will  not  do,  therefore,  to  indulge  in  wholesale  and  indis- 
criminate denunciation  of  this  desire.  It  belongs  to  man 
as  man,  and  what  we  have  to  do  with  it  is  not  to  seek 
its  extirpation,  but  to  give  it  a  spiritual  character,  and 
turn  it  into  a  direction  that  will  benefit  others  rather 
than  ourselves.  Just  thus,  indeed,  it  is  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  deals  with  it.  He  does  not  seek  to  destroy  any- 
thing that  is  of  the  essence  of  our  humanity.  His 
design  in  his  redemptive  work  is  to  purify  man's  na- 
ture as  a  whole  ;  and  therefore,  far  from  uprooting  am- 
bition, he  transfigures  it  by  making  it  the  spur  that 


216  TEUE   GEEATNESS. 

stirs  US  on,  not  to  self-aggrandizement,  but  to  lioliness 
and  beneficence. 

To  see  that  this  is  a  true  statement  of  the  case 
you  have  but  to  look  at  the  incidents  in  connection 
with  which  the  words  of  my  text  were  originally 
spoken.  The  mother  of  James  and  John,  instigated 
aj)parently  by  her  sons,  requested  of  the  Lord  that 
when  he  came  to  his  kingdom  these  two  disciples 
might  sit,  one  on  his  right  hand  and  the  other 
on  his  left.  To  this  he  replied,  not  by  directly 
refusing  the  j)etition,  but  by  showing  that  from  the 
nature  of  his  kingdom  they  could  pass  to  its  high 
places  of  honor  only  by  drinking  of  the  cup  which  he 
had  himself  to  drain,  and  submitting  to  the  baptism 
with  which  he  was  himself  to  be  baptized.  But  the 
mere  making  of  such  a  request  on  their  behalf  by 
their  mother  wounded  the  pride  of  the  other  ten  dis- 
ciples, and  so  to  make  his  meaning  still  more  plain, 
and  restore  harmony  among  his  followers,  he  went  on 
to  say  that  in  that  spiritual  system  of  which  he  was 
the  head  it  was  not  to  be  as  it  is  among  the  kingdoms 
of  the  earth,  in  which  the  measure  of  a  man's  dominion 
over  his  fellows  is  the  measure  of  his  greatness.  His 
kingdom  was  not  to  bo  of  this  world  in  any  respect, 
but  its  special  and  peculiar  feature — marking  its 
radical  difference  from  the  monarchies  of  earth — 
was,  that  whereas  in  them  greatness  was  a  thing  of 
rule,  under  him  it  was  to  be  a  matter  of  service.  His 
words  may  be  thus  paraphrased  :  "  There  needs  be  no 
strife  between  you  on  this  point ;  indeed,  if  you  rightly 
understood  my  kingdom  there  would  be  none  ;  for 
even  if  I  were  to  exalt  James  and  John  to  the  posts  of 
honor  which  have  been  asked  for  them,  they  would  be 
so  exalted  not  to  exercise  dominion  over  you  but  to 
be  your  servants,  for  that  is  the  principle  of  my  ad- 


TKUE  GREATNESS.  217 

ministration.  The  highest  is  the  highest  because  he 
ministers  to  the  lowliest.  You  have  called  it  my  king- 
dom, and  jou  have  said  well,  for  it  is  mine  ;  yet  even  I 
am  here,  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister, 
and  to  give  my  life  a  ransom  for  many." 

Now  observe  what  all  this  amounts  to.  The  Saviour 
does  not  say  that  is  a  wrong  thing  to  desire  to  be  the 
chief,  or  to  wish  to  be  great.  He  does  not  seek  to  erad- 
icate ambition,  but  rather  to  show  what  its  true  function 
in  regenerated  manhood  is  to  be.  He  takes  that  passion 
which,  in  the  breasts  of  such  men  as  Nebuchadnezzar, 
Xerxes,  Alexander  and  the  Caesars,  had  covered  the 
earth  with  misery,  and  he  transmutes  it  into  a  princi- 
ple by  the  operation  of  which,  in  the  hearts  and  lives 
of  his  followers,  the  world  would  yet  be  blessed  "  from 
the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  going  down  of  the  same." 
He  defines  what  true  greatness  is,  and  bids  his  disci- 
ples be  ambitious  after  that.  He  substitutes  the 
greatness  of  love  for  the  love  of  greatness  ;  and  to 
those  who  are  eager  for  power  he  preaches  the  might 
of  service  ;  while  with  a  sublime  egoism,  to  be  ex- 
plained only  by  his  consciousness  of  deity,  he  holds 
himself  up  as  the  brightest  exemplification  of  his 
words.  Let  us  meditate  a  little  upon  these  striking 
sayings,  and  we  may  find  in  them  some  wholesome 
hints  as  to  the  nature,  the  model,  and  the  motive  of 
true  greatness. 

I.  They  have  something  to  tell  us,  in  the  first 
place,  concerning  the  nature  of  true  greatness.  What 
is  greatness  ?  Scarcely  two  persons  among  us  would 
give  the  same  reply  to  that  question.  All  would 
admit  that  it  denotes  j)re-eminence,  but  each  would 
have  his  own  jDreference  as  to  the  department  in  which 
it  was  to  be  manifested.  Sbme  would  associate  it  with 
10 


218  TRUE   GREATNESS. 

power,  some  with  courage,  some  with  eloquence,  and 
some,  perhaps,  with  w^ealth  ;  3'et  each  would  think  of 
it  as  conferring  an  advantage  on  its  possessor,  and  so 
putting  others  at  a  corresponding  disadvantage.  Here, 
however,  it  is  connected  with  that  love  which  works 
not  for  its  own,  interest  but  for  the  benefit  of  others. 
Still,  that  we  may  not  be  one-sided  in  a  matter  of  so 
much  importance,  we  must  remember  that  as  Jesus 
used  the  word  "  service,"  holiness  was  combined  with 
the  love  out  of  wdiich  it  sprung.  So  we  come  to  the 
result  that  the  really  great  man  is  he  whom  holiness 
and  love  combine  to  inspire  for  the  service  of  his 
generation  by  the  will  of  God.  How  different  such 
a  definition  of  a  great  man  is  from  that  commonly 
current  among  lis  must  be  evident  to  every  one.  I 
willingly  admit,  indeed,  that  now  men's  judgments  on 
this  subject  have  been  considerably  affected  by  the 
principles  of  the  gospel ;  but  still  the  j)revalent  idea 
of  greatness  is  very  far  from  being  identical  with  that 
■which  I  have  deduced  from  the  Saviour's  words  before 
me.  We  crown  the  man  in  whom  we  behold  intel- 
lectual power  that  has  won  the  success  of  position  or 
of  wealth,  but  we  too  rarely  think  of  goodness  as  being 
the  highest  form  of  greatness.  Now,  though  Christ 
does  not  ignore  intellect,  or  even  riches,  he  yet  regards 
these  things,  and  all  things  like  these,  as  but  instru- 
ments, and  he  is,  in  the  gospel  sense  of  the  word,  the 
gi'eatest  who  uses  all  such  gifts  or  possessions  in  the 
service  of  mankind.  "  He  that  will  be  greatest  among 
you,  let  him  be  your  servant." 

If,  then,  this  view  of  the  case  be  correct,  one  or  two 
inferences  of  importance  follow  from  it. 

1.  For  one  thing,  it  is  evident  that  he  who  wins  this 
greatness  does  not  attain  it  at  the  expense  of  others. 
Many  run  after  the  prizes  of  the  world,  and  not  unfre- 


TRUE   GEEATNESS.  219 

quently  those  who  bear  them  away  have  succeeded  in 
doing  so  more  by  scheming  to  keep  others  from  getting" 
them,  than  by  fair  and  honest  establishment  of  their 
own  merits.  Men  rise  very  often  by  pushing  others 
down.  Here,  however,  the  j)rize  is  won  by  helping 
others  uj).  Intrigue,  oppression,  "  coups  d'etat^^'' 
are  alike  unknown  in  such  a  rivalry  as  is  here  sug- 
gested, for  he  who  is  exalted  on  this  principle  to  the 
place  of  honor  has  already  won  the  gratitude  of  those 
above  whom  he  is  elevated,  and  is  where  he  is  with 
their  highest  approval.  The  pursuit  of  great  things, 
when  these  are  sought  simply  for  one's  self,  leads  not 
seldom  to  the  violation  of  the  principles  of  truth  and 
justice  and  benevolence,  and  ends  full  often  in  bit- 
terest disappointment ;  but  the  ambition  for  the  great- 
ness that  consists  in  service  stimulates  to  deeds  of 
self-sacrifice,  and  has  at  last  the  reward  of  that  charity 
which  is  twice  blessed,  because  "  blessing  him  that 
gives  and  him  that  takes." 

2.  It  follows,  further,  from  what  has  been  said, 
that  we  may  win  this  greatness  anywhere.  The 
poet  musing  in  the  country  churchyard  speaks  of 
some  as  slumbering  there  who,  had  the  way  been 
opened  to  them,  might  have  become  famous  in 
their  country's  annals ;  and  it  is  plain  that  even 
in  a  republic  which  proclaims  that  all  men  are 
born  equal,  the  paths  to  worldly  honor  are  greatly 
circumscribed.  Everybody  has  not  the  intellect  of  a 
Webster  or  the  genius  of  a  Henry  as  his  birth  capital, 
conferred  by  God.  The  poet  is  born,  not  made  ;  the 
same  thing  is  true  of  the  orator  ;  and  unless  some 
war  should  break  out,  which  God  prevent !  there  can 
be  no  field  for  military  glory.  But  here — in  service — 
is  a  department  always  open  ;  open  also  to  the  poorest 
and  the  wealthiest ;  to  the  least  intelligent  and  the 


220  TRUE  GREATNESS. 

most  intellectual ;  to  tlie  youngest  and  the  oldest ; 
open  in  the  family  and  the  church  ;  in  the  neighbor- 
hood and  in  the  world  ;  yea,  whoever  a  man  may  be, 
wherever  he  may  go,  and  whatever  may  be  his  re- 
sources, he  may  be  always  the  means  of  helping  others, 
and  by  that  may  win  at  last  the  commendation  and 
the  crown.  To  bid  you  aim  after  merely  worldly 
positions  would  be  to  entail  certain  disappointment 
on  many  of  you.  The  peripatetic  orators  who  visit 
our  public  schools  and  tell  the  boys  before  them 
that  there  may  be  future  Presidents  of  the  Republic 
among  them,  forget  that  such  an  honor  can  fall  at 
most  on  only  eight  men  in  a  generation.  Very  few 
of  those  who  begin  the  study  of  the  law,  fired  with  the 
ambition  which  the  thought  that  "  there  is  always 
room  at  the  top  "  inspires,  ever  reach  the  top.  Not 
every  one  who  has  sought  after  wealth — though  that 
is  perhaps  the  easiest  thing  of  all  to  get — has  ob- 
tained it ;  and  in  the  race  of  life  you  may  see  multi- 
tudes lying  on  the  course  exhausted  and  forlorn, 
having  given  up  all  hope  of  reaching  the  goal.  Thus, 
in  all  these  departments,  multitudes  are  sure  to  be 
disappointed.  But  we  may  all  get  this  gospel  great- 
ness. Opportunities  for  winning  it  lie  all  around  ; 
and  so  in  urging  you  to  seek  for  it  I  am  starting  you 
out  on  no  uncertain  quest,  nor  sending  you  to  chase  a 
deceitful  marsh-fire.  You  may  attain  that  which  I  set 
before  you,  and  you  will  attain  it,  if  only  your  thoughts 
are  set  on  serving  others  and  your  hearts  are  filled 
with  love. 

3.  But  it  follows,  thirdly,  that  this  greatness 
is  satisfying  to  its  possessor.  Literature  is  full 
of  the  sighings  of  successful  men  over  the  disap- 
pointment which  even  success  lias  brought  to  them. 
The  enjoyment  of  life,  on  the  world's  plan,  is  in  the 


TEUE   GREATNESS.  221 

pursuit.  When  the  jDrize  is  won  it  ceases  to  charm. 
That  which,  in  the  distance,  seemed  goodly  fruit, 
crunches  in  the  mouth  like  ashes.  No  abiding 
happiness  can  be  found  either  in  literary  fame  or 
political  position,  or  stores  of  wealth,  in  themselves, 
but  there  is  always  satisfaction  in  serving  our  genera- 
tion ;  and  he  who,  by  the  grace  of  God,  seeks  to  make 
the  world  the  better  for  his  presence  will  from  that 
effort  have  the  holiest  joy.  He  may,  indeed,  be  mis- 
construed by  his  fellows  ;  he  may  be  ridiculed  as  an 
enthusiast ;  he  may  be  reproached  for  what  others 
call  his  improvidence  ;  and  while  he  has  been  think- 
ing of  serving  Christ  in  his  people,  some  will  affirm 
that  he  has  been  only  the  more  cunningly  aiming  for 
his  own  advancement,  but  he  will  have  within  him  the 
testimony  of  a  good  conscience,  and  above  him  the 
complacency  of  an  approving  God  ;  and  the  day  will 
come  when  his  worth  shall  be  recognized  and  his 
title  to  men's  gratitude  and  affection  conclusively 
established.  This  greatness  bears  investigation. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  means  by  which  it  has  been 
acquired  to  create  remorse,  while  the  happiness  of 
him  who  has  won  it  is  redoubled  by  that  of  those 
in  whose  service  it  has  been  gained.  What  a 
drawback  to  the  conqueror's  joy  is  the  appear- 
ance of  the  battle-field  after  an  engagement  ?  And  who. 
among  us  has  not  felt  his  eyes  grow  dim  as  he  has 
read  of  the  great  captain  saying,  as  he  walked  among 
the  dead  and  dying  on  the  night  after  his  most  brill- 
iant success,  "  Alas  !  alas  !  next  to  a  defeat,  the  sad- 
dest thing  is  a  victory  at  such  a  cost."  But  there  is 
no  such  shadowing  sorrow  attendant  on  the  greatness 
to  which  Jesus  summons  us.  Its  achievements  are  in 
the  way  of  saving  men,  not  of  destroying  them  ;  and 
in  the  promotion  of  their  highest  interests  it  finds  its 


222  TRUE  GREATNESS. 

abiding  joy.  Here,  therefore,  is  an  ambition  tbat  is 
free  from  tlie  evils  that  commonly  accompany  tlie 
workings  of  that  natural  principle.  It  rises  without 
thrusting  others  down  ;  it  finds  its  field  of  operation 
in  every  department  of  life  ;  and  it  seeks  its  own  en- 
joyment in  promoting  the  happiness  of  others.  Be  it 
ours,  my  brethren,  to  aspire  after  the  greatness  which 
the  Lord  has  here  described.  Let  others  have  the 
prizes  of  the  world  if  they  will,  choose  ye  this  crown 
of  never-fading  glory  !  The  highest  commendation  one 
can  earn  is  this — "  He  hath  done  what  he  could  "  ;  and 
the  noblest  life  record  is  that  which  comes  nearest  to 
his  of  whom  it  was  said  that  "  he  went  about  doing 
good."  That  is  fame,  though  no  earthly  herald  may 
trumpet  it  abroad,  for  Christ  shall  proclaim  it  on  the 
day  of  days  before  the  assembled  universe. 

IL  But  the  test  has  something  to  say  to  us,  in  the 
second  place,  about  the  model  of  greatness :  "  Even 
as  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for 
many."  In  one  point  of  view  the  greatness  of  God  is 
that  of  service.  All  things  dejoend  on  him.  He  holds 
the  planets  in  their  orbits.  He  rules  the  changing 
year.  "  In  him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being." 
He  gives  us  breath,  and  food,  and  raiment.  The  tiniest 
insect  fluttering  in  the  sunbeam  is  upheld  by  him,  and 
a  sparrow  cannot  fall  to  the  ground  without  his  care. 
He  is  thus,  in  a  very  true  sense  of  the  word,  the  ser- 
vant of  the  creatures  whom  he  has  called  into  being  and 
sustains.  Yea,  when  we  come  to  think  it  out,  we  shall 
see  that  the  greatest  inventions,  even  of  recent  days,  in 
the  way  of  applied  science  are  just  so  many  new  meth- 
ods in  which  we  may  avail  ourselves  of  God's  service, 
and  take  advantage  of  his  ministry.     I  speak  it  rever- 


TRUE  GREATNESS.  223 

ently,  yet  it  is  most  true,  that  every  power  in  nature 
is  in  the  last  resort  the  power  of  God,  and  so  in  steam, 
electricity,  etc.,  we  are  but  in  different  ways  taking 
advantage  of  God's  goodness  as  a  servant.  Thus 
the  highest  of  all  is  the  servant  of  all.  But,  striking 
as  the  nobleness  and  the  divinityof  service  appenr  when 
we  look  thus  at  the  universal  ministry  of  God,  we 
have  a  more  impressive  illustration  of  the  same  thing 
in  the  mission  and  work  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  In  crea- 
tion and  providence  God  lays  nothing  aside.  He  has 
made  no  sacrifice  in  either  of  these.  He  has  not — if  I 
may  so  express  it — put  himself  about  to  serve  his  creat- 
ures. Everything  in  nature  is  done  with  ease.  Noth- 
ing is  difl&cult  to  omnipotence.  But  in  redemption  it 
was  different.  To  deliver  man  from  the  guilt  and 
power  of  sin  it  was  needed  that  the  Son  of  God  should 
become  a  man,  and,  after  a  life  of  obedience,  should 
submit  to  a  death  of  shame  ;  and  tliere  was  sacrifice  : 
there  was  a  giving  up  of  that  which  even  Godhead 
felt  to  be  infinitely  valuable,  and  when  that  was  done 
Jehovah  rendered  the  highest  service  to  humanity, 
and  gave  a  pattern  of  the  loftiest  greatness. 

It  deserves  to  be  remarked,  however,  that  though 
the  point  of  the  reference  made  here  by  Jesus  to  his 
death  lies  in  its  power  as  an  example,  he  uses  lan- 
guage concerning  it  which  clearly  implies  that  it  was 
redemptive  and  sacrificial.  It  was  the  "  ransom  "  or 
price  which  had  to  be  paid  for  the  declaration  of  Je- 
hovah's righteousness  in  the  forgiveness  of  believing 
men  ;  and  the  use  of  this  term  here  as  it  were  incident- 
ally, when  allusion  is  specially  made  to  quite  another 
side  of  the  subject,  is  a  valuable  testimony  from  his  own 
lips  to  the  substitutionary  nature  of  his  death.  But,  in- 
deed, the  same  thing  must  come  out  even  when  we 
regard  the  giving  up  of  his  life  as  an  example ;  for  if 


224  TEUE   GREATNESS. 

there  were  no  righteous  necessity  for  liis  dying  as  a 
means  of  saving  men,  then  it  becomes  a  mere  display 
of  sentiment,  a  throwing  away  of  that  which,  without 
detriment  to  any  interest,  might  have  been  kept ;  and 
that  coukl  be  no  proper  model  of  any  sort  for  men. 
When,  however,  we  reflect  that  only  by  his  giving  him- 
self up  to  death  in  the  sinner's  room  could  any  one  be 
saved,  then  we  see  in  his  voluntary  surrender  of  himself 
to  the  cross  the  noblest  act  of  service  of  which  the  uni- 
verse has  been  the  scene.  Christ  came  into  the  world 
to  die,  and  in  his  death  he  served  us  more  effectually 
than  others  could  have  done  by  their  lives.  But  it 
must  not  be  forgotten,  either,  that  his  death  was  but 
the  climax  and  consummation  of  a  life  of  ministering 
— the  last  and  greatest  act  in  a  series  of  the  sublimest 
services  ever  rendered  by  one  person  to  others.  He 
was  continually  ministering.  He  was  always  at  the 
call  of  weakness,  or  of  suffering  or  of  want.  Every 
one  of  his  miracles  was  benevolent.  He  never  thought 
of  his  own  ease,  or  allowed  regard  for  himself  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  the  manifestation  of  his  love  to  others. 
"  Even  Christ  pleased  not  himself."  He  sought  no 
personal  aggrandizement.  He  coveted  no  gold  or 
silver.  He  desired  no  earthly  glory.  But  wherever 
a  sick  one  needed  healing,  or  a  weak  one  required 
strength,  or  a  weeping  one  sought  solace,  there  he 
was  to  be  found  doing  appropriate  service.  When  he 
sat  exhausted  on  the  well  of  Sychar,  he  denied  himself 
both  repose  and  refreshment  that  he  might  guide  an 
erring  woman  back  to  the  way  of  holiness.  When 
with  his  twelve  apostles  he  went  for  retirement  to 
the  eastern  shore  of  Genesaret,  he  did  not  allow 
consideration  for  himself  to  keep  him  from  instruct- 
ing the  multitudes  that  persistently  followed  him  ; 
and  he  added  to  that  kindness  the  working  of  a  mir- 


TEUE  GREATNESS.  225 

acle  for  their  feeding.  Nay,  even  wlien  tlie  dark- 
ness of  Calvary  was  closing  over  him  he  forgot  his 
own  agony  as  he  heard  the  prayer  of  the  penitent  who 
hung  beside  him  ;  and  in  these  words  of  answer,  "  To- 
day shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise,"  we  have  one 
of  the  sublimest  instances  of  self-abnegation  which 
even  his  history  contains.  This  is  the  model  of  the 
highest  greatness.  Be  not  appalled,  I  pray  you,  by 
the  purity  of  its  perfection,  but  seek  day  by  day  to 
come  nearer  to  the  height  of  its  ever  -ascending  ideal. 
Lay  aside  all  inferior  standards.  Seek  to  imitate  no 
meaner  ensample.  We  dwarf  our  efforts  by  consent- 
ing to  accept  less  exalted  models.  Let  us,  therefore, 
keep  ever  "  looking  unto  Jesus,"  and,  like  Paul,  make 
this  our  motto :  "  This  one  thing  I  do :  forgetting  those 
things  which  are  behind  and  reaching  forth  unto  those 
things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark  for 
the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 
It  may  entail  upon  us  the  drinking  of  many  a  bitter 
cup,  and  the  enduring  of  many  a  fiery  baptism,  but  if 
we  press  forward  in  this  holy  quest,  then,  at  the  end, 
for  us,  too,  as  for  Paul,  there  will  be  "  the  crown  of 
righteousness  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge, 
shall  give  us  at  that  day." 

IIL  But  this  text  has  something  to  say  to  us  finally 
about  the  motive  to  true  greatness.  We  are  to  seek  it 
for  the  sake  of  him  who  gave  himself  for  us.  I  do  not 
find,  indeed,  any  distinct  expression  of  this  thought 
in  the  verses  before  us.  Jesus  does  not  say  in  so 
many  words,  "  Serve  one  another,  because  I  have 
served  you ; "  but  still  the  reference  which  he  makes 
to  his  death,  as  an  example,  brings  before  every 
Christian's  mind  the  magnitude  of  the  obligation  under 
which  Christ  has  laid  him.  He  died  for  us.  But  for 
10* 


226  TEUE   GREATNESS. 

liis  deatL.  our  deliverance  would  have  been  impossible. 
Through  his  sacrifice  our  salvation  has  been  secured. 
Thus  we  owe  everything  to  him.  Our  present  privi- 
leges and  our  future  hopes  all  center  in  him.  If  he  is 
anything  to  us  at  all,  he  is  to  us  "  all  and  in  all."  And 
the  great  question  of  our  hearts,  in  view  of  his  ser- 
vices to  us,  is  "  What  shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for 
all  his  benefits  ?  "  Now,  his  answer  to  that  inquiry  is 
virtually  this  :  "  By  love  serve  one  another.  He  is 
the  most  deeply  grateful  to  me  who  is  the  most  self- 
sacrificing  minister  to  the  temporal  and  spiritual  ne- 
cessities of  others.  Wherever  you  see  another  stand- 
ing in  need  of  your  assistance  as  much  as  you  were 
needing  mine  when  I  came  to  help  you  by  dying  in 
your  stead,  help  liim,  and  that  will  be  thanking  me, 
for  *  inasmuch  as  ye  do  it  to  one  of  the  least  of  these 
ye  do  it  unto  me.' "  We  are,  thus,  to  see  Christ's 
image  in  every  sick  and  sorrowful  and  suffering  one  ; 
and  we  are  to  show  our  gratitude  to  him  for  his  death 
in  our  behalf  by  laboring  to  serve  them  in  the  most 
self-denying  manner.  Thus  gratitude  is  the  source 
of  greatness,  and  so  this  Christian  ambition,  alike  in 
its  root  and  in  its  fruits,  is  transfigured  and  becomes 
a  totally  difi'erent  thing  from  that  which  is  commonly 
so  called.  Behold  how  it  showed  itself  in  Paul,  I 
call  him,  all  in  all,  the  greatest  man  whom  the  Chris- 
tian church  has  yet  produced.  For  activity,  for  self- 
sacrifice,  for  constant  devotion  to  the  good  of  others, 
he  stands  unrivaled  among  the  sons  of  men,  and  if 
you  ask  him  to  explain  it  all,  he  will  reply  in  these 
autobiograj)hic  words :  "  I  am  crucified  with  Christ, 
nevertheless  I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me, 
and  the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the 
faith  of  the  Son  of  God  who  loved  me  and  gave  him- 
self for  me  ; "  or  these  :  "  Alway  bearing  about  in  the 


TRUE   GEEATNESS.  227 

body  tlie  dying  of  tlie  Lord  Jesus  that  the  life,  also,  of 
Jesus  might  be  made  manifest  in  my  body."  Now,  if 
we  would  emulate  his  greatness,  we  must  follow  the 
same  j)lan.  We  must  begin  by  receiving  Jesus  Christ 
into  our  hearts  as  our  Redeemer,  and  we  must  go  on 
by  maintaining  our  love  to  him  and  our  confidence  in 
him  until  at  length  self  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  him, 
and  our  one  absorbing,  overmastering  ambition  will 
become  that  we  may  reproduce,  as  far  as  we  may, 
Christ's  own  self-sacrifice  on  our  lowlier  level  and 
within  our  more  limited  area. 

I  have  seen  a  picture  wdiich,  by  the  genius  of  the 
artist,  told  at  least  one  chapter  of  the  story  of  a  poor 
man  who  was  confined  for  years  in  a  cold,  dark  dungeon. 
There  was  but  one  little  opening  in  the  wall,and  through 
that  a  sunbeam  came  for  but  a  few  minutes  every  day 
making  a  white  patch  of  light  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  cell.  Often  and  often  the  lonely  man  gazed  on  that 
little  spot  which  was  thus  daily  illuminated,  and  at 
length  a  purpose  to  make  something  on  it  grew  within 
his  soul.  Groping  on  the  ground,  which  was  his  only 
floor,  he  found  a  nail  and  a  stone,  and  with  these  for 
chisel  and  mallet  he  set  to  work  on  that  bright  little 
patch  for  the  brief  time  of  every  day  that  it  was  kissed 
by  the  sunlight,  until  at  length  he  brought  out  upon  it  in 
sculptured  relief  a  rude  representation  of  Cbrist  upon 
the  cross  !  Let  us  imitate  that  prisoner !  Our  sphere 
may  be  circumscribed  ;  our  life-chamber  may  be  dark  ; 
our  surroundings  may  be  dreary  ;  yet  if  we  be  truly 
set  on  following  Christ,  we  shall  discover  some  tiny 
chink  through  which  the  sunshine  of  his  guiding  prov- 
idence shall  come  ;  and  on  the  spot  where  its  direct- 
ing light  shall  fall,  let  us,  with  such  means  as  we  find 
at  our  hand,  hew  out,  not  in  cold  stone  but  in  living 
love,  the  likeness  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ.    Thus  shall 


228  TBUE  GREATNESS. 

we  attain  that  loftiest  greatness  whereof  Jesus  has 
to-daj  been  speaking  to  us  ! 

"  For  lie  before  wliose  scepter 

Tlie  nations  rise  or  fall, 
Who  gives  no  least  commandment 

But  come  to  pass  it  shall. 
Said  that  he  who  would  be  greatest 

Should  be  servant  unto  all. 

And  in  conflict  with  the  evil 
Which  his  bright  creation  mars, 

Laid  he  not  aside  the  scepter 

Which  can  reach  to  all  the  stars  ? 

Of  the  service  which  he  rendered 
See  on  his  hands  the  scars  1 " 

May  15,  1881. 


THE   SEAL  AND  EARNEST   OF  THE 
SPIRIT. 

II.  Cor.  i.  23.  Who  hath  also  sealed  us,  and  given  the  earnest  of 
the  Spirit  iu  our  hearts. 

It  is,  I  fear,  too  true  of  us  Christians  in  these  days, 
that  though  we  are  living  under  the  dispensation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  we  make  far  too  little  of  his  opera- 
tions, alike  in  our  thoughts,  our  discourses  and  our 
prayers.  The  place  of  that  divine  agent  in  the  econ- 
omy of  salvation  is  equally  important  with  that  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  and  yet  in  our  meditations  and 
experience  he  has  too  largely  dropped  out  of  our  con- 
sideration. Many  treatises  have  been  written  on  the 
love  of  the  Father,  scarcely  one  has  been  devoted  to 
the  love  of  the  Spirit.  We  are  never  weary  of  extol- 
ling the  work  of  the  Son,  and  prayer  is  made  to  him 
continually ;  but  little  is  said,  comparatively,  about 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  few  petitions  are  presented  unto 
him. 

The  hymnology  of  the  church,  which  is  an  un- 
erring witness  to  the  quality  of  Christian  experience 
through  all  the  centuries,  attests  that  while  many  of 
those  sacred  songs  which  are  most  popular  show  forth 
the  praises  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  there  are  but 
few  which  worthily  express  our  obligations  to  the 
Spirit.  A  learned  editor  in  this  city  has  compiled 
into  a  large  volume  entitled  "  Christ  in  Song  "  a  great 
number  of  the  finest  lyrics  which  tell  of  Jesus  and  his 
work ;  but  a  similar  collection  by  another  hand  under 
the  name  of  "  The  Holy  Ghost  in  Song  "  reveals  that 


230  THE   SEAL   AND   EARNEST   OF  THE   SPIRIT. 

in  tliis  department  our  praise  has  iDeen  meager  in  its 
volume,  and  for  tlie  most  j)art  only  medium  in  its 
quality.  Of  tlie  four  hundred  and  twelve  hymns  con- 
tained in  Lord  Selborne's  "  Book  of  Praise,"  only 
fifteen  are  arranged  under  the  heading  of  "  God  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  and  even  of  these  there  are  five  which 
have  no  special  reference  to  the  Spirit,  and  might  as 
■well  have  been  j)laced  under  some  other  division.  In 
our  own  hymn-book — which  in  this  regard  may  be 
taken  as  a  fair  sample  of  our  praise-books  generally — 
out  of  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty-seven  hymns  only 
forty-sis  are  marked  in  the  index  as  being  either 
addressed  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  having  any  reference 
to  his  work. 

This  maybe  to  many  a  startling  statement,  but  it  is 
the  simple  truth ;  and  it  seems  to  me  to  indicate  the 
quarter  in  which  the  source  of  that  which  must  be 
deplored  by  all  of  us  as  an  evil  is  to  be  found.  For 
hymnology  grows  out  of  experience.  The  church 
sings  that  alone  which  its  members  have  realized  as 
having  entered  into  their  own  lives,  and  we  take  into 
our  lives  only  that  which  we  implicitly  believe.  Now 
if  we  seek  to  analyze  that  which  is  the  common  faith 
of  Christians  in  regard  to  the  Holy  Spirit  we  shall 
find  something  like  this :  there  is  a  general  belief  in 
his  true  and  proper  Deity  ;  there  is  a  common  recog- 
nition of  the  necessity  of  his  agency  for  the  renewal 
of  the  heart ;  and  there  is,  also,  though  not  per- 
haps so  deep  and  earnest  as  it  ought  to  be,  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  truth  that  he  alone  can  give  power  to  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel.  When  we  are  longing  for 
conversions,  and  seeking  for  such  a  revival  of  religion 
in  the  city  and  the  land  as  shall  turn  many  from 
darkness  unto  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God,  we  pray  for  an  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 


THE   SEAL  AND  EARNEST  OF  THE   SPIRIT.  231 

But  tliere  for  the  most  part  we  stop.  "We  do  not  deny- 
that  it  is  he  alone  who  can  foster  and  maintain  within 
us  the  graces  of  Christian  character.  We  are  far 
from  affirming,  in  so  many  words,  that  after  we  have 
once  been  regenerated  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
we  can  get  on  very  well  without  him  ;  or  that  for  com- 
fort, for  growth,  for  security,  and  for  perseverance  we 
are  independent  of  him  ;  but  the  simple  fact  is  that 
most  of  us  do  not  consciously  rely  on  him  for  these 
things,  do  not  pray  to  him  for  them,  and  do  not  give 
to  him  the  glor  j  when,  in  spite  of  our  ignoring  of  him, 
we  are  permitted  to  experience  them.  This  explains 
the  disproportion  in  our  hymn-books  to  which  I  have 
referred,  and  points  to  a  serious  defect  in  our  prac- 
tical theology.  Take  the  first  ten  church  members 
whom  you  may  chance  to  meet ;  ask  them  why  we 
need  the  Holy  Ghost ;  press  them  to  tell  you  whether 
they  pray  for  him,  and  if  they  do,  get  them  to  explain 
why  they  have  prayed  for  him  ;  then  I  venture  to  say, 
that  most  of  them  will  affirm  that  they  wish  to  see  his 
power  manifested  as  it  was  on  Pentecost,  in  the  awak- 
ening and  regeneration  of  men  through  the  preaching 
of  the  truth,  and  that  scarcely  one  among  them  will 
allege  that  he  ever  thought  of  asking  for  him  in  order 
that  he  might  himself  become  purer,  more  devoted, 
more  Christ-like  in  his  own  character  and  life.  Now 
I  have  called  this  a  serious  defect  in  our  practical 
theology,  and  I  would  have  it  remedied  not  by  giving 
less  attention  to  other  matters,  but  by  giving  more  to 
this.  We  cannot  make  too  much  of  the  love  of  the 
Father,  and  I  would  not  desire  that  we  should  in  any 
degree  diminish  our  appreciation  of  that.  We  can- 
not go  wrong  in  glorying  in  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and 
anything  short  of  whole-hearted  consecration  to  our 
divine  Redeemer  is  to  be  deprecated.     Neither  would 


232  THE   SEAL  AXD  EAENEST   OF  THE   SPIRIT. 

I  have  one  pra^^er  fewer  offered  for  the  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  in  connection  with  energizing  of  men  for 
the  preaching  of  the  gospeh  But  while  we  do  these 
thinsfs  we  must  not  leave  the  other  undone.  Let  us 
not  honor  the  Father  and  the  Son  less  ;  but  let  us  honor 
the  Holy  Spirit  more,  yea,  let  us  honor  him  equally 
with  the  Father  and  the  Son.  Let  us  not  make  less 
of  the  necessity  of  his  agency  for  giving  success  to  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel;  but  let  us  make  more  than 
we  have  been  doing  heretofore  of  the  need  of  his 
operations  in  us  for  our  daily  spiritual  growth ;  and 
while  we  pray  as  earnestly  as  ever  that  he  would 
"  baptize  the  nations"  and  quicken  them  into  spiritual 
life  let  us  ask  more  fervently  than  ever  that  he  may 
work  in  us  for  the  development  and  ripening  of  our 
characters  "  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith 
and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God  unto  a  per- 
fect man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  full- 
ness of  Christ." 

"Whatever  excuse  may  be  offered  for  this  too  com- 
mon ignoring  by  us  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
the  sustenance  of  the  individual  Christian  life,  it  can- 
not be  said  that  its  necessity  is  not  kept  steadily  be- 
fore us  in  the  New  Testament.  Many  of  the  very 
names  by  which  he  is  called  set  this  aspect  of  his 
agency  very  clearly  before  our  eyes.  Thus  when  the 
Lord  Jesus  promised  to  send  him  as  another  Com- 
forter, or  Paraclete,  he  taught  us  to  expect  him  as  one 
who  should  be  our  constant  helper,  as  real,  as  gra- 
cious and  as  powerful  as  himself.  "When  he  is  called 
the  Spirit  of  Holiness,  the  suggestion  is  that  through 
his  working  in  us  we  are  to  grow  in  holiness.  "When 
he  is  styled  the  Spirit  of  Suj^plication,  we  are  re- 
minded that  all  true  prayer  is  the  result  of  his  opera- 
tion in  us.     "When  he  is  spoken  of  as  the  Spirit  of 


THE   SEAL  AND   EAENEST   OF  THE   SPIEIT.  233 

Grace,  we  are  led  to  understand  tliat  it  is  through  him 
Christ's  grace  is  communicated  to  us  and  comes  to  be 
sufficient  for  us.  And  the  same  truths  are  suggested 
to  us  by  the  two  figures  under  which  his  work  is 
brought  before  our  notice  in  the  words  which  I  have 
taken  this  morning  as  my  text.  Let  me  endeavor 
then  to  unfold  to  you  all  that  is  here  implied  in  order 
that  I  may  stir  you  up  to  ask  for  the  Holy  Ghost  for 
yourselves  to  help  you  through  the  daily  conflict  of 
your  lives,  as  well  as  for  others  that  they  may  be  con- 
verted unto  God  by  the  manifestation  of  his  power. 

I.  First  let  us  see  if  we  can  discover  with  what  fit- 
ness it  can  be  said  that  God  hath  sealed  us  by  his 
Spirit.  In  the  verse  which  I  have  read,  indeed,  it  is 
not  expressly  affirmed  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  seal 
which  God  has  affixed  to  his  people  in  Christ,  but  a 
comparison  of  Paul's  words  here  with  those  which 
he  used  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  when  he 
wrote  "  in  whom,  also,  after  that  ye  believed,  ye  were 
sealed  with  that  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,"  and  again, 
"Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  whereby  ye  are 
sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption,"  will  make  it 
abundantly  evident  that  the  same  thing  was  in  his 
mind  when  he  employed  the  language  of  the  text.  In 
what  respects,  then,  may  the  Holy  Spirit  be  compared 
to  a  seal  ?  The  answer  is  suggested  by  the  uses  to 
which  among  men  a  seal  has  been  put.  These  are 
three : 

1.  It  has  been  employed  first  to  authenticate  a 
document  or  confirm  it  as  genuine.  Thus  Jezebel  is 
said  to  have  written  letters  in  Ahab's  name  and  sealed 
them  with  his  seal;  and  in  the  book  of  Esther  it  is 
recorded  of  the  decree  of  the  king,  "  in  the  name  of 
Ahasuerus  was  it  written  and  sealed  with  the  king's 


234  THE   SEAL  AND  EARNEST  OF  THE  SPIEIT. 

ring."  ^  The  same  usage  holds  among  ourselves,  for 
important  deeds  are  almost  always  marked  with  an 
official  seal,  and  the  effect  is  that  all  who  read  them 
acknowledge  them  as  authentic.  So  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  the  believer  has  the  assurance  given  to  him  that 
he  is  a  genuine  disciple  of  Christ.  He  has  the  attest- 
ation in  him  that  he  is  born  of  God,  or,  as  Paul  has 
elsewhere  phrased  it,  "  the  Sj^irit  beareth  witness  with 
his  spirit  that  he  is  a  child  of  God."  But  how  is  this 
assurance  given  to  the  Christian  ?  Not,  I  answer,  by 
the  administration  of  any  ordinance.  The  sacraments 
of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  have  often  been 
called  by  theologians  "  sealing  ordinances,"  and  there 
is  a  sense  in  which  the  words  thus  used  may  be  ap- 
propriate, but  they  do  not  mean  that  the  reception  of 
these  ordinances  is  indubitable  evidence  that  he  who 
receives  them  is  a  child  of  God.  Many  who  have 
been  baj^tized  have  denied  the  Lord  that  bought 
them,  and  many  too  who  have  taken  into  their  hands 
the  symbols  of  Christ's  body  and  blood  have  done  so 
only  as  an  emjDty  form  and  without  any  spiritual 
benefit.  These  therefore  are  not  the  means  by  which 
believers  are  sealed  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  neither 
does  he  impart  this  authenticating  assurance  by  any 
direct  revelation  or  through  any  special  communica- 
tion, as  by  dream  or  vision.  The  Spirit  works  in  a 
man  by  working  through  him.  His  agency  is  exerted 
through  the  operation  of  the  believer's  own  faculties. 
The  supernatural  acts  through  the  natural,  by  quick- 
ening it  into  exercise  and  stimulating  it  to  excellence. 
Thus  it  comes  that  its  working  is  not  a  matter  of  con- 
sciousness as  distinct  from  the  usual  operation  of  the 
powers  of  the  soul  itself.     The  believer  cannot  say  at 

*  1  Kings  xxL  8  ;  Esther  iii.  12. 


THE   SEAL  AND   EARNEST   OF  THE   SPIEIT.  235 

any  moment  in  his  experience  tliat  lie  feels  and  knows 
that  there  is  a  power  different  from  his  own  at  work 
within  him.  He  is  conscious  only  of  results.  He 
knows  that  the  Holy  Ghost  has  been  exerting  his 
agency  within  him  only  when  he  perceives  that  the 
fruit  of  the  Sj^irit  has  begun  to  make  its  appearance  in 
him.  Here,  in  the  word,  is  the  description  of  that 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  produces  in  a  man — "  the  fruit 
of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentle- 
ness, goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance" — and 
when  in  his  consciousness  these  qualities  make  their 
presence  known,  he  has  then  the  witness  of  the  Spirit 
in  him  that  he  is  a  genuine  believer.  In  short,  when 
the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  in  the  experience  of  the  man  cor- 
responds to  the  description  of  it  which  is  given  in  the 
word,  just  as  the  impression  on  the  wax  does  to  the 
die  that  produced  it,  then  he  is  warranted  to  infer  that 
he  is  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  and  authen- 
ticated to  himself  as  a  genuine  Christian.  This 
description  of  the  matter  is  thus  equally  removed,  on 
the  one  hand,  from  that  fanaticism  which  would  lead 
you  to  expect  a  direct  communication,  either  by  secret 
revelation  or  by  audible  voice,  from  God,  and  on  the 
other  from  that  rationalistic  naturalism  which  would 
deny  all  reality  whatever  to  the  operations  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  heart ;  and  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  con- 
firm my  statement  by  the  words  of  such  an  eminent 
man  of  God  as  Chalmers,  who  has  said  :  "  I  could  not, 
without  making  my  own  doctrine  outstrip  my  own  ex- 
perience, vouch  for  any  other  intimation  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  than  that  which  he  gives  in  making  the  word  of 
God  clear  unto  you,  and  the  state  of  your  own  heart 
clear  unto  you.  From  the  one  you  draw  what  are  its 
promises,  from  the  other  what  are  your  own  personal 
characteristics ;  and  the  application  of  the  first  to  the 


236  THE   SEAL  AND  EAENEST  OF  THE   SPIRIT. 

second  may  conduct  you  to  a  most  legitimate  argu- 
ment that  you  personally  are  one  of  the  saved — and 
that  not  a  tardy  or  elaborate  argument,  either,  but 
with  an  evidence  quick  and  j^owerful  as  the  light  of 
intuition."  *  Thus  interpreted,  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  sealing  believers  is  intimately  associated 
with  their  assurance  of  salvation,  and,  therefore,  we 
may  see  how  much  we  lose  by  so  commonly  ignoring 
his  agency. 

2d.  But  a  seal  was  used,  in  the  second  place,  as  a 
mark  by  wliicli  to  distinguish  property.  When  thus 
employed  it  was  different  from  all  other  badges,  and 
was  in  its  nature  unique  and  peculiar.  "We  have  some- 
thing like  it  in  modern  times  in  the  trade-mark  which 
a  manufacturer  copyrights  and  makes  his  own,  so  that 
wherever  it  is  imprinted  one  can  tell  at  a  glance  the 
ownership  of  that  on  which  it  appears.  Just  as  to- 
day throughout  the  British  Empire  everything  that 
is  marked  with  the  broad  arrow  is  at  once  recognized 
as  the  property  of  the  government ;  so  in  ancient  times, 
the  servants,  cattle  and  goods  of  a  rich  man  were  dis- 
tinguished by  his  seal.  In  like  manner  believers  are 
recognized  as  the  jDroperty  of  God  by  the  seal  of  the 
Spirit ;  and  as  sometimes  yet  with  us  a  seal  has  an 
obverse  and  reverse  side,  so  in  the  case  of  believers 
the  seal  of  the  Sj)irit  is  at  once  inner  and  outer.  This 
is  made  clear  by  Paul  in  these  words  of  his  to  Timo- 
thy :  "  Nevertheless  the  foundation  of  God  standeth 
sure,  having  this  seal " — that  is,  a  seal  with  these  in- 
scriptions on  it :  "  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are 
his.  And,  Let  eveiy  one  that  nameth  the  name  of 
Christ  depart  from  iniquity."  On  the  hidden  side, 
visible  only  to  Jehovah,  is  this   inscription :    "  The 

*  Clialmers  on  Romans  viii.  10.     In  Lectures  on  Romans. 


THE   SEAL  AND  EARNEST   OF  THE   SPIRIT.  237 

Lord  knowetli  tliem  tliat  are  Ms."  He  knoweth  them 
not  only  as  his  own  regenerated  ones,  but  also  by 
their  aspirations  after  himself,  by  their  hidden  com- 
munion with  himself,  and  by  their  joy  in  himself. 
These  things  are  secrets  between  him  and  them.  But 
on  the  other  side,  where  all  men  may  read  it,  there  is 
this  inscription — "  Let  him  that  nameth  the  name  of 
Christ  depart  from  iniquity."  Thus  they  are  distin- 
guished among  men  as  God's  j^roperty  by  their  depart- 
ure from  iniquity.  They  are  a  peculiar  people  not  only 
in  the  sense  of  being  God's  purchased  possessions, 
but  also  in  that  of  being  different  from  all  others,  and 
that  visible  difference  is  in  their  keeping  themselves 
"  unspotted  from  the  world."  Hence,  just  as  the  authen- 
tication of  the  believer  to  himself  is  given  in  his  ex- 
perience, so  the  difference  between  him  and  others 
which  points  him  out  as  God's  property  is  marked  in 
his  conduct;  and  by  his  non-conformity  to  the  world, 
which  is  the  result  of  the  renewing  of  his  mind,  he  is 
sealed,  in  the  eyes  of  all  men,  as  belonging  to  the 
Lord.  I  do  not  say  that  he  is  entirely  free  from  sin, 
but  I  do  affirm  that  his  relation  to  sin  is  different  from 
that  of  other  men.  They  serve  sin,  but  he  has  revolted 
from  sin,  and  is  departing  from  it.  He  falls  yet  some- 
times, but  when  he  does  he  is  overtaken  in  a  fault. 
He  sins  yet,  sometimes,  but  when  he  does  he  rises 
out  of  it  and  returns  to  God.  When  his  foot  slides  it 
is  not  like  the  stumbling  of  one  who  is  descending 
deeper  and  deeper  into  iniquity ;  but  it  is  the  foot-slip 
of  an  eager  climber  who  is  panting  in  his  ascent  of  the 
hill  and  if  he  should  fall,  he  is  never  content  to  lie 
still,  but  he  arises  forthwith  and  renews  his  toil.  His 
face  is  in  the  right  direction.  His  cry  is  ever  Up- 
ward, Godward,  Heavenward,  and  he  longs  to  reach 
the  summit,  where  he  shall  be  like  God — for  he  shall 


238  THE  SEAL  AND  EAENEST   OF  THE   SPmrT. 

seo  liim  as  lie  is.  Now  this  outward  diaracter  is  tlie 
badge  of  Christian  discipleship,  the  mark  that  a  man 
belongs  to  God,  and  it  is  produced  in  him  by  the 
agency  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Hence  we  may  see  how 
near  the  honoring  of  the  Spirit  lies  to  one  of  the  great 
necessities  of  the  times.  The  cry  is,  and  I  fear  there 
is  good  reason  for  the  exclamation,  that  the  church 
and  the  world  are  becoming  indistinguishable ;  that 
Christians  are  losing  their  characteristic  features ; 
and  that  there  is  little  or  no  difference  between  them 
and  other  men.  "What  is  this  but  to  say  that  the  seal 
of  the  Spirit  is  becoming  undecij)herable  ;  that  its 
sharp  relief  is  worn  down  ;  that  its  inscription  is  well- 
nigh  illegible  ?  And  how  is  it  to  be  renewed,  if  not 
by  a  new  honoring  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost  among  us  as 
the  author  and  agent  of  personal  sanctification ?  Ah! 
have  we  not  in  this  worldly  conformity  among  profess- 
ing Christians  the  result  and  Nemesis  of  our  forgetful- 
ness  in  our  prayers  and  praises  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ? 

When  the  coinage  of  a  country  has  worn  thin  and 
light,  so  that  no  one  can  see  the  image  or  read  the 
superscription  which  once  it  bore,  it  is  called  in,  re- 
minted,  and  sent  forth  anew,  with  a  clearly  distinct 
and  finely  relieved  impression  from  the  original  die. 
And  so,  when  our  Christian  characters  are  rubbed 
down  by  the  abrasion  of  the  world  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  image  of  the  Lord  in  us  has  been  well  nigh 
effaced,  there  is  all  the  more  need  for  us  to  submit 
ourselves  to  the  reminting  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  we 
may  come  forth  anew  and  bear  unmistakable  witness 
to  Christ's  royalty  over  us  and  property  in  us. 

3.  But  in  the  third  place  a  seal  was  used  as  a  means 
of  security.  Thus  it  is  recorded  of  the  stone  laid  at 
the  mouth  of  the  den  into  which  Daniel  was  thrust : 
"  The  King  sealed  it  with  his  own  signet  and  with  the 


THE  SEAL  AND  EARNEST   OF  THE   SPIRIT.  239 

signet  of  liis  lords,  tliat  the  purpose  miglit  not  be 
changed  concerning  Daniel,"  and  when  Jesus  was  laid 
in  the  grave  the  Jews  made  the  sepulcher  sure,  "  seal- 
ing the  stone,  and  setting  a  watch."  In  like  manner 
believers  are  kept  secure  in  the  world  by  the  seal  of 
the  Spirit.  Now  let  us  clearly  understand  how  this 
is  brought  about.  The  reference  here  is  not  to  God's 
almighty  protection.  Neither  is  it  to  the  ordering  of 
his  all-wise  ]3rovidence.  Both  of  these,  indeed,  are 
engaged  by  covenant  for  the  defence  of  the  Christian, 
but  here  the  allusion  is  to  something  resulting  from  the 
Spirit's  agency  in  the  believer's  heart,  by  which  he  is 
preserved  until  the  day  of  redemption.  And  so  we  come 
back  again  to  those  qualities  in  the  Christian  which 
are  wrought  out  in  him  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  through 
faith,  and  we  see  in  them  the  means  of  his  security. 

The  characteristics  and  habits  which  are  acquired 
by  the  believer,  through  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
are  the  means  of  preserving  him  from  falling  before 
the  assaults  of  his  spiritual  enemies.  Recall  again 
that  enumeration  of  Paul :  "  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is 
love,  joy,  jDeace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness, 
faith,  meekness,  temjjerance  :  against  such  there  is  no 
law."  Or  that  other :  "  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  in  all 
goodness  and  righteousness  and  truth."  Then  with 
these  catalogues  in  your  memory  compare  them  with 
the  well-known  passage  which  describes  the  Christian's 
armor  thus  :  "  Stand,  therefore,  having  your  loins  girt 
about  with  truth,  and  having  on  the  breast-plate  of 
righteousness ;  and  your  feet  shod  with  the  preparation 
of  the  gospel  of  peace,  above  all  taking  the  shield  of 
faith,  wherewith  ye  shall  be  able  to  quench  all  the 
fiery  darts  of  the  wicked.  And  take  the  helmet  of 
salvation,  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  which  is  the 
word  of  God,  praying  always  with  all  prayer  and  sup- 


240  THE  SEAL  AND  EAENEST  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 

plication  in  tlie  Spirit,  and  watching  tliereunto  with 
all  perseverance."  And  what  result  do  we  get  from 
the  comparison?  "We  get  this — that  the  Christian's 
graces  are  his  armor  also ;  that  the  very  same  qualities 
which  are  styled  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  are,  in  another 
view  of  them,  the  whole  armor  of  God  and  the  means 
of  defence  from  his  soul's  adversaries.  The  virtues  to 
the  cultivation  of  which  he  is  stimulated,  and  in  the 
development  of  which  he  is  sustained  by  the  Spirit, 
are  the  means  by  which  that  Divine  Agent  secures  him 
from  all  the  assaults  of  his  enemies  ;  and  so  we  see  how 
it  comes  that  the  doctrine  of  the  perseverance  of  the 
saints,  when  rightly  understood,  never  can  lead  to 
indolence ;  for  the  Spirit  preserves  his  people  from 
falling  away  by  the  fostering  within  them  of  those 
qualities  and  habits  which  are  absolutely  incompat- 
ible with  their  declension.  He  seals  them  by  righte- 
ousness, not  as  an  objective  gift  bestowed  upon  them, 
but  as  a  character  maintained  by  them,  and  so  that 
righteousness  is  a  breastplate.  He  marks  them  with 
truth,  not  as  a  passive  possession,  but  as  an  active 
j)rinciple,  and  so  that  truth  is  for  them  a  girdle.  And 
the  same  is  true  of  all  the  other  items  in  the  catalogue 
of  the  Spirit's  fruit.  Now  with  these  facts  before  us 
we  can  comprehend  how  it  comes  that  on  the  one  hand 
believers  are  said  to  be  kept  by  the  power  of  God 
through  faith,  and  on  the  other  it  is  alleged  that  he 
that  is  begotten  of  God  keepeth  himself.  Our  security 
is  perfect,  and  yet  it  is  not  without  our  own  exertions — 
for  it  is  effected  by  the  constant  manifestation  by  us 
of  the  qualities  which  are  formed  and  fostered  in  us 
by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  If,  therefore, 
there  be  anything  like  spiritual  indolence  among  us, 
or  if  there  be  frequent  cases  of  falling  away  among 
those  who  were  once  apparently  running  well,  we  may 


THE  SEAL  AND  EARNEST   OF  THE   SPIRIT.  241 

be  sure  that  the  root  of  all  sucli  evils  is  in  the  ignoring 
of  the  agency  of  the  Spirit,  whereby  we  are  sealed 
unto  the  day  of  redemption. 

II.  But  I  must  hasten  now  to  consider  with  all 
brevity  what  is  implied  in  the  second  figure  here 
employed  to  illustrate  the  value  of  the  work  of  the 
Spirit  in  our  hearts.  "And  hath  given  us  the  earnest 
of  the  Spirit."  The  term  is  borrowed  from  a  custom 
which  used  to  be  observed  in  connection  with  the 
transfer  of  property.  It  was  common  in  a  case  of 
purchase  that  the  buyer  received  a  small  installment 
at  once  as  a  sample  of  that  which  he  had  bought  and  as 
a  pledge  that  in  due  season  full  delivery  should  be 
made.  This  installment  or  first-fruit  was  called  an 
earnest,  and  so  when  the  Holy  Spirit  in  our  hearts  is 
styled  an  earnest,  we  have  these  two  things  implied, 
namely — first,  that  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  which  we 
liore  enjoy  is  the  same  in  kind  with  the  blessedness 
of  heaven,  and  second,  that  it  is  a  pledge  that  heaven 
in  its  perfection  shall  ultimately  be  ours. 

The  Spirit  in  our  hearts  is  a  foretaste  of  the  quality 
of  heaven.  The  life  of  heaven  will  differ  not  in  kind, 
but  only  in  degree,  from  that  of  the  believer  here. 
"  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life." 
Observe,  it  is  not  will  have,  but  hath.  All  that  wliich 
has  come  to  him  through  his  faith  in  the  Son  shall  never 
die.  His  heaven  is  begun  here,  in  reconciliation  to 
God,  in  fellowship  with  God,  in  assimilation  to  God. 
The  quickening  which  he  has  here  experienced  through 
the  agency  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  germ  of  the  life  of 
glory.  The  light  which  he  has  here  received  through 
the  illumination  of  the  Spirit  is  the  beginning  of  the 
knowledge  of  heaven.  The  happiness  wliich  he  has 
here  enjoyed,  through  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
11 


242  THE   SEAL  AND   EARNEST   OF  THE   SPIEIT. 

liim,  is  tlie  commencement  of  tlie  blessedness  of 
heaven.  The  earnest  is  the  same  in  kind  with  the 
purchase,  and  the  fruit  to  which  we  have  this  morn- 
ing so  often  referred  is  of  the  same  sort  as  the  inherit- 
ance on  high. 

I  say  not,  indeed,  that  our  present  experience 
gives  us  any  adequate  idea  of  the  full  glory  of 
heaven.  Light  is  the  same  in  the  first  streak  of 
early  dawn  as  it  is  in  the  splendor  of  high  noon — the 
same  in  kind,  but  how  different  in  degree.  Life  is 
the  same  in  its  radical  nature  in  the  infant  on  its 
mother's  lap  and  in  the  philosopher  at  his  post  of  ob- 
servation as  he  scans  the  heavens — the  same  in 
kind,  but  how  different  in  degree !  So  heaven 
transcends  in  degree  all  that  we  haA'e  experienced 
here  on  earth.  Yet  the  view  which  I  have  now  pre- 
sented, and  which  I  am  persuaded  is  entirely  Script- 
ural, may  keep  us  from  falling  into  foolish  and  dan- 
gerous error  regarding  the  future  life.  Heaven  is  not 
a  place  of  material  splendor,  any  more  than  hell  is  a 
lake  of  material  fire.  Retribution  is  the  intensifica- 
tion of  that  which  is  known  as  remorse  here  ;  and 
glorification  is  the  sublimation,  the  elevation,  and  the 
purification  of  that  which  the  believer  has  already 
experienced  of  joy,  and  peace,  and  holiness  on  earth. 
The  celestial  city,  with  its  walls  of  jasper,  and  its 
gates  of  pearl,  and  its  streets  of  gold,  is  a  beautiful 
figure.  It  is  a  material  symbol  for  a  spiritual  reality 
which  Avill  be  infinitely  greater  than  anything  ma- 
terial can  ever  be,  and  that  spiritual  reality  is  com- 
jDleted  humanity,  glorified  character,  and  perfected 
happiness.  Heaven  is  a  state  more  than  a  place,  a 
character  more  than  a  possession,  a  happiness  more 
than  a  position  ;  and  we  enter  into  that  state,  we  ac- 
quire that  character,  we  taste  that  happiness  here  and 


THE  SEAL  AND  EAENEST  OF  THE  SPIEIT.  243 

now  tlirougli  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  and  by  the  indwell- 
ing of  his  Spirit  in  our  hearts.  How  important, 
therefore,  in  this  regard,  that  we  should  keep  clearly 
before  our  minds  the  place  and  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  the  sanctification  of  our  souls ! 

But  our  present  enjoyment  of  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit 
is  a  pledge  that  the  full  inheritance  of  heaven  shall 
yet  be  ours.  "  He  who  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  us 
will  perform  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."  "What 
God  commences  he  carries  through  ;  and  having  done 
so  much  in  us  he  will  bring  it  to  completeness. 
This,  you  observe,  is  not  quite  the  same  as  the  se- 
curity which  was  suggested  to  us  by  tlie  seal.  That 
was  the  pledge  that  we  should  be  kept  for  heaven ; 
this  is  an  assurance  that  heaven  shall  be  possessed 
by  us ;  and  both  together  are  brought  before  us  in 
the  words  of  Peter,  when  he  speaks  of  "  an  inherit- 
ance, incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not 
away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  them  who  are  kept  by 
the  power  of  God  through  faith."  Thus  the  saints 
are  kept  for  the  inheritance,  and  the  inheritance  is 
reserved  for  the  saints,  so  that  there  is  a  double 
guarantee  ;  and  by  these  two  immutable  things  we 
may  have  strong  consolation  as  we  pursue  our  life 
journey  here  on  earth.  Nay,  more  ;  both  of  these 
guarantees  are  given  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  his  work 
within  us,  and  so  we  see  how  closely  connected  with 
our  safety  and  our  joy,  our  present  comfort  and  our 
future  glory,  the  agency  of  the  Spirit  is.  Surely,  if 
we  were  more  thoroughly  alive  to  these  considera- 
tions we  would  have  a  higher  appreciation  of  the 
Third  in  the  Trinity,  and  be  more  frequently  found 
hymning  his  praise  and  supplicating  his  blessing. 

But  I  must  conclude.  I  have,  throughout,  been 
speaking  this  morning  to  those  who  have  had  some 


244  THE  SEAL  AND  EARNEST  OF  THE   SPIRIT. 

experience  of  tlie  power  of  divine  grace  in  tlieir 
hearts,  for,  as  Paul  lias  clearlj  affirmed,  it  is  only 
after  men  have  believed  that  they  are  sealed  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  promise.  Yet  I  cannot  leave  off  with- 
out saying  a  word  or  two  to  those  who  have  not  yet 
"  set  to  their  seal  that  God  is  true,"  by  believing  in 
Ills  Son.  To  them  I  come  to-day  as  the  spies  came  to 
Kadesh-barnea,  two  of  them  carrying  between  them 
the  Eslicol  cluster  of  grapes  as  a  sample  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  goodly  land  which  they  had  been  to  see. 
I  show  you  in  this  "  fruit  of  the  Spirit "  a  specimen 
of  the  inheritance  into  which  Jesus  introduces  us. 
Beware  how  ye  receive  our  report.  Ke member  what 
happened  to  the  tribes  when  they  refused,  at  the 
word  of  Caleb,  to  go  up  and  possess  the  land,  and 
"  take  heed  lest  ye  fall  after  the  same  example  of  un- 
belief." "Who  among  you  is  willing  to  set  out  with  us 
to-day  for  this  celestial  heritage  ?  It  is  true  that 
there  is  a  river  to  cross  before  we  fully  reach  it,  but 
in  that  it  only  resembles  every  earthly  blessing,  for 
there  is  a  Jordan  before  every  Canaan.  It  is  true  that 
the  Anakim  are  to  be  subdued,  but  that  is  only  what 
we  must  expect  in  every  enterprise,  since  nothing 
worthy  of  possession  ever  becomes  ours  without  con- 
flict. But  think  of  your  leader  ;  for  if  you  believe  in 
Jesus,  then  he  who  erewhile  appeared  to  Joshua  as 
*'  the  Captain  of  tlie  Lord's  host "  will  guide  you  on  ; 
before  him  the  river  will  be  dried  up,  and  at  his  ad- 
vance every  adversary  will  be  overthrown.  Who, 
then,  is  willing  to  put  himself  under  his  leadership  ? 
"  Come  with  us  and  Ave  will  do  you  good,  for  we  are 
journeying  to  the  place  of  which  God  hath  said,  I 
will  give  it  you,  and  the  Lord  hath  spoken  good  con- 
cerning Israel." 

January  8,  1883. 


DRIFTING. 

Hebrews  ii.  1.     Lest  liaply  we  drift  away  from  tliem.     ("Revised 
Version.) 

The  key-note  of  this  great  Epistle  istlie  word  "  bet- 
ter." It  was  written  to  tliose  who  were  in  danger  of 
apostasy  from  the  gospel  by  reason  of  their  high  ap- 
preciation of  the  Jewish  law,  and  its  argument  is 
designed  to  show  that  inasmuch  as  Jesus  is  bet- 
ter than  the  angels  by  whom  the  law  was  given ; 
more  glorious  than  Moses,  who  was  the  mediator 
of  the  old  covenant ;  more  excellent  in  his  minis- 
try than  Aaron,  who  was  its  priest ;  officiated  in  a 
nobler  tabernacle  than  that  which  was  erected  in  the 
wilderness,  and  offered  a  better  sacrifice  than  those 
which  smoked  on  the  altar  of  burnt  offerings,  there- 
fore he  is  the  surety  of  a  better  covenant,  which 
brought  in  a  better  hope,  was  established  upon  better 
promises,  and  provided  some  better  thing  than  was 
known  or  enjoyed  under  the  ancient  dispensation. 
Such  being  the  case,  it  would  be  folly  to  go  back  from 
the  gospel  to  the  law,  and  the  despising  of  the  priv- 
ileges which  Christ  conferred  would  entail  a  much 
sorer  punishment  than  that  which  fell  on  those 
who  perished  at  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses 
for  the  violation  of  the  Mosaic  precepts,  and  so  the 
solemn  close  of  the  whole  train  of  reasoning  is  this  : 
"  See  that  ye  refuse  not  him  that  speaketh  ;  for  if 
they  escaped  not  who  refused  him  when  he  spake  on 
earth,  much  more  shall  not  we  escape  if  we  turn  away 


246  DREFTING. 

from  liim  ■wlien  lie  speaketh  from  lieaven,  whose  voice 
then  shook  the  earth  ;  but  now  he  hath  promised,  say- 
ing :  Yet  once  more  I  shake  not  the  earth  only,  but 
also  lieaven.  And  this  word,  yet  once  more,  signi- 
fieth  the  removing  of  those  things  that  are  shaken, 
as  of  things  that  are  made,  that  those  things  which 
cannot  be  shaken  may  remain.  Wherefore  we,  re- 
ceiving a  kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved,  let  us  have 
grace  whereby  we  may  serve  God  acceptably  with 
reverence  and  godly  fear,  for  our  God  is  a  consuming 
fire." 

That  is  the  main  purport  of  this  magnificent  trea- 
tise, and  the  text  is  the  inference  which  the  writer 
draws  from  the  first  section  of  his  argument.  Begin- 
ning with  the  fact  that  God,  who  had  spoken  in  many 
ways  and  in  many  portions  in  the  prophets,  had  now 
spoken  unto  men  in  his  Son,  he  strikes  what  I  have 
called  his  key-note  at  the  very  first,  by  describing 
that  Son  as  "  being  made  so  much  better  than  the 
angels,  as  he  hath  by  inheritance  obtained  a  more 
excellent  name  than  they  ;  "  and  after  having  proved 
that  statement,  he  sends  home  at  once  the  inference 
from  it  thus  :  "  Therefore  we  ought  to  give  the  more 
earnest  heed  to  the  things  which  we  have  heard — that 
is,  heard  from  the  Son — lest  we  should  drift  away 
from  them  ;  for  if  the  word  spoken  by  angels  was 
steadfast,  and  every  trangression  and  disobedience 
received  a  just  recompense  of  reward,  how  shall  we 
escajDe  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  which  at  the 
first  began  to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord  ?  " 

It  will  be  seen  by  you  that  in  thus  quoting  the  Avords, 
I  prefer  the  rendering  given  by  the  revisers  :  "  lest  we 
should  drift  away  from  them  "  ;  and  this  I  do  because 
it  is  a  more  exact  translation  of  the  Greek  term,  and 
brings  into  prominence  a  truth  which  is  almost  en- 


DRIFTING.  247 

tirely  concealed  by  the  common  version.  To  let  a 
thing  slip  is  to  allow  it  to  pass  out  of  our  grasj),  or  to 
lose  our  hold  of  it ;  and  that  could  not  occur  in  our 
experience  without  our  attention  being  drawn  to  it  in 
some  way.  But  that  is  not  the  precise  sort  of  danger 
against  which  the  writer  guards  his  readers  here. 
He  is  anxious  to  warn  them  of  something  which 
might  happen  to  them  before  they  were  aware.  He  is 
not  so  much  afraid  of  their  positively  "  rejecting"  the 
great  salvation  as  of  their  "  neglecting "  it,  in  con- 
sequence of  their  yielding  to  other  influences,  or  of 
their  being  preoccupied  with  other  matters ;  and  his 
words  describe  not  a  direct  and  deliberate  antagonism 
to  the  truth,  but  rather  a  letting  of  themselves  be 
carried  away  from  it  by  forces  the  operation  of 
which  is  so  insidious  and  stealthy  that  they  would 
not  notice  their  existence  unless  they  were  to  give 
"  earnest  heed."  This  message  by  his  Son  is  God's 
final  word  to  men ;  if  it  be  disregarded,  there  is 
nothing  more  to  be  hoped  for  from  him,  and  there  is 
great  danger  that,  even  without  cherishing  any  violent 
hostility  to  it,  you  may  by  certain  influences  be  drifted 
away  from  it,  and  not  be  conscious  of  the  fact  until 
it  has  begun, — therefore  you  must  give  the  more  earn- 
est heed  that  such  a  danger  may  be  avoided. 

Drifted — that  is  the  precise  word.  The  boat  is  un- 
anchored ;  it  is  at  the  moment  in  a  quiet  bay,  but 
by-and-by  the  tide  ebbs,  and  bears  it  on  its  bosom  on 
to  the  middle  of  the  current,  and  there  it  is  carried 
out  and  away,  and,  perhaps,  if  no  one  has  observed 
its  motions,  lost.  Or,  if  I  may  illustrate  by  a  personal 
reminiscence,  take  such  a  case  as  this  :  On  my  first 
tour  tlirougli  Switzerland  I  visited  the  quaint  old  city 
of  Thuu,  along  with  three  of  my  most  intimate  friends. 
We  stayed  at  a  hotel  built  on  the  side  of  the  lake, 


24:8  DRIFTING. 

just  at  the  place  where  the  Aar  runs  rapidly  out  of  it, 
and  we  went  to  amuse  ourselves  for  a  season  by  rowing 
about  in  a  little  boat.  After  awhile  a  difference  of 
opinion  sprang  up  among  us  as  to  the  direction  we 
should  take.  One  said,  "  Let  us  go  yonder  "  ;  another 
answered,  "No;  let  us  rather  make  for  that  other 
point "  ;  a  third  had  still  another  suggestion,  and  we 
ceased  rowing  until  we  should  make  up  our  minds  ; 
but  meanwhile  the  current  was  settling  the  question 
for  us,  and  unless  we  had  sj)eedily  bent  to  the  oars 
with  all  our  might,  we  should  have  been  hurried 
along  into  a  dangerous  place,  out  of  which  we  could 
only  have  been  rescued,  if  rescued  at  all,  by  the  as- 
sistance of  others. 

The  influences,  therefore,  against  which  we  are 
warned  by  the  words  of  my  text  are  those  of  currents 
which  are  flowing  just  where  we  are,  and  which  may 
operate  so  insidiously  that  we  may  not  know  of  their 
effect  until  perhaps  it  is  too  late  to  resist  their  power. 
These  currents  in  the  case  of  the  Hebrews  we  have 
already  adverted  to,  and  we  can  see  traces  of  their 
force  in  the  successes  of  the  Judaizers,  to  which  Paul 
alludes  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Galatians ;  but  I  do  not 
dwell  now  upon  them.  I  am  desirous  rather  to  guard 
you  against  those  which  are  running  to-day  ;  and,  that 
I  may  not  deal  in  vague  generalities,  I  will  specify 
three. 

I.  Take  then,  flrst,  that  which  I  may  call  the  age- 
current,  or  what  a  recent  English  essayist,  borrowing 
from  the  German,  has  called  the  "  Time-spirit."  Every 
ej)ocli  has  its  own  special  tendency.  Just  as  there 
are  times  when  some  forms  of  disease  are  epidemic, 
so  there  are  periods  when  an  intelligent  observer  can 
discover  certain  very  distinct  trends  of  thought  among 


DRIFTING.  249 

men.  In  tlie  days  immediately  preceding  tlie  French 
Bevolution,  infidelity  of  the  type  of  Voltaire  was  in 
the  ascendant,  and  its  tide  swept  over  many  lands.  In 
England,  in  the  wake  of  the  deists  who  wjote  in  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  such  unbelief  was 
prevalent  that  Butler,  in  1736,  used  these  words  :  "  It 
is  come,  I  know  not  how,  to  be  taken  for  granted  by 
many  persons  that  Christianity  is  not  so  much  as  a 
subject  of  inquiry ;  but  that  it  is  now,  at  length,  dis- 
covered to  be  fictitious.  And,  accordingly,  they  treat 
it  as  if,  in  the  present  age,  this  were  an  agreed  point 
among  all  people  of  discernment,  and  notliing  remained 
but  to  set  it  up  as  a  principal  subject  of  mirth  and 
ridicule  "  ;  and  he  was  himself  so  much  affected  by  it 
that  all  he  ventured  to  say  was  :  "  Thus  much,  at  least, 
will  here  be  found,  not  taken  for  granted,  but  proved, 
that  any  reasonable  man  who  will  thoroughly  consider 
the  matter  may  be  as  much  assured  as  he  is  of  his 
own  being  that  it  is  not,  however,  so  clear  a  case  that 
there  is  nothing  in  it."  The  age-current  was  surely 
very  strong  when  even  a  Butler  was  prevented  by  it 
from  afiirming  more  than  that !  But  in  our  own  times 
something  of  the  same  sort  has  made  itself  felt.  It  is 
curious,  indeed,  that  as  one  looks  back  over  the  last 
three  centuries,  he  sees  a  kind  of  family  likeness  be- 
tween them  in  this  regard.  The  years  between  1660 
and  1688  marked  in  England  the  darkest  time  of  that 
seventeenth  cycle.  They  were  the  years  of  persecu- 
tion, ribaldry,  profanity,  immorality  and  scepticism, 
consequent  upon  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts  to  the 
throne  ;  the  years  when  Jeffries  disgraced  the  English 
bench,  and  when  the  martyrs'  blood  ran  red  upon  the 
Scottish  moors.  Then,  a  hundred  years  later — the 
time  between  1760  and  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century — was  that  in  which  England  and  Scotland 
11* 


250  DRIFTING. 

both  were  blighted  by  a  cold  moderatism  in  the  pul- 
pits of  the  State  churches,  which  preached  a  heathen 
morality  instead  of  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 
And  now  again,  at  a  similar  period  in  the  nineteenth, 
we  find  ourselves  called  upon  to  contend  not  for  the 
inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  or  for  the  reality  of  mir- 
acles, or  for  the  divine  origin  of  the  Gospel,  but  for 
the  very  existence  of  God  himself.  A  physical  science 
which  has  taken  up  with  the  doctrine  of  development, 
and  has  insisted  that  what  is  at  best  an  ingenious 
hypothesis  shall  be  accepted  as  a  demonstrated  fact, 
has  prepared  the  way  for  an  agnostic  philosophy 
which  refuses  to  believe  that  anything  can  be  known 
save  that  which  can  be  perceived  by  the  bodily  senses, 
aided  by  the  scalpel  and  the  microscope,  and  that,  in 
its  turn,  has  given  birth  to  a  rank  atheism,  which  has 
adopted  as  its  creed  the  terrible  negation,  No  God. 
You  meet  with  this  current  in  our  literature.  There 
are  first-class  reviews  every  number  of  which  has  one 
or  more  articles  devoted  to  some  one  or  other  of  these 
subjects.  Many  of  our  scientific  treatises — not  all,  I 
am  thankful  to  say — are  infected  with  the  same  evil 
spirit.  Some  of  our  daily  pajoers  give  prominence 
and  circulation  to  the  views  which  it  inspires,  and  the 
strength  of  it  may  be  estimated  by  the  fact  that  it  has 
affected  even  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  to  some  ex- 
tent, so  that  we  now  and  then  hear  of  one  who  has 
drifted  away  from  everything  that  the  Christian 
holds  dear. 

I  do  not  desire  to  magnify  the  evil.  My  own  con- 
viction is  that  the  pendulum  has  had  its  full  swing 
in  the  materialistic  direction,  and  that  a  reaction  will 
speedily  take  ^ilace,  if  it  have  not  already  begun.  But 
I  do  not  believe  that  any  one  who  has  been  taking  note 
of  passing  events  will  gainsay  my  statement  that  a 


DRIFTING.  251 

current  of  tlie  sort  wliicli  I  liave  described  has  been 
flowing  for  some  years  and  is  flowing  still.  There 
is  a  distinct  difference  between  the  state  of  things 
in  this  regard  to-day  and  that  which  existed  five 
and  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago.  And  the  question 
I  would  desire  to  put  to  you,  and  would  seek  to  put 
to  myself,  is,  How  have  we  been  affected  by  it? 
It  may  be  very  true  that  we  are  not  disposed  to 
accept  either  the  logic  of  scientific  men  or  the  philos- 
ophy of  those  who  would  debar  all  faith  in  the  spirit- 
ual, the  unseen,  and  the  supernatural.  If  we  were 
asked  whether  we  joined  them  in  their  contemptuous 
treatment  of  the  word  of  God,  and  their  rejection  of 
the  Saviour,  we  should  answer  with  an  emphatic  "No." 
But  are  we  quite  sure  that  we  have  not  drifted  to  some 
extent  with  the  current?  After  so  much  has  been  said 
on  every  hand  about  the  "uniformity  of  Nature's 
laws,"  and  "prayer-tests,"  and  "the  eternal  something 
not  ourselves  that  makes  for  righteousness,"  after 
even  a  Huxley  has  spoken  of  God  as  "iV,"  we  might 
perhaps  prudently  ask,  "  Is  God  the  same  to  us  that 
he  was  of  yore  ?  Do  we  solace  ourselves  as  much  as 
ever  with  the  assurance  that  the  very  hairs  of  our 
head  are  numbered  ?  Is  prayer  to  us  the  comfort  and 
strength  it  used  to  be  ?  Do  we  prize  the  Sabbath  and 
the  sanctuary  as  in  our  earlier  life  ?  Do  we  long  for 
the  communion  table  as  we  were  wont  to  do  ?  Is  the 
Bible  still  to  us  the  same  old  book,  and  do  we  find  the 
same  joy  in  its  i3erusal?"  We  need  not  flatter  our- 
selves that  the  age-current  can  have  no  effect  upon 
us.  If  we  do,  that  is  the  sure  precursor  of  our  being 
ultimately  carried  with  it.  We  must  either  resist  it 
or  yield  to  it.  And  if  we  have  not  been  consciously 
and  determinedly  resisting  it,  we  have  been  drifting 
with  it,  and  the  drift  will  show  itself  in  one  or  other 


252  DEIFTING. 

of  the  ways  wliich  I  have  mentioned.  If  it  be  true 
that  the  standard  of  piety  and  morality  is  lower  among 
Christians  than  it  was  formerly  ;  if  it  be  the  case  that 
the  Church  is  less  of  an  aggressive  force  in  our  large 
centers  of  population  than  it  was  a  generation  ago ;  if 
the  numbers  of  those  enrolling  themselves  in  its  ranks 
are  smaller  than  they  have  been  in  other  days  ;  if  here, 
as  in  England,  the  census  of  those  who  statedly  attend 
the  house  of  God  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  is  not 
so  great  as  it  was  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  may  it 
not  be  owing  to  the  fact  that  we  have  not  been  taking 
heed  to  guard  against  this  age-drift  which  has  been 
flowing  beneath  us?  Brethren,  let  us  get  back  to 
Christ,  and  anchor  fast  on  him.  He  is  the  eternal 
Son  of  God.  His  words  are  truth.  His  life  is  our 
divine  ideaL  His  death  is  our  true  and  only  atone- 
ment for  sin.  His  precept  is  our  law.  His  interces- 
sion is  our  solace.  His  heaven  is  our  hope.  Let  us 
hold  the  beginning  of  our  confidence  in  Mm  steadfast 
unto  the  end,  and  that  will  keep  us  right.  There  have 
been  many  assaults  made  upon  him,  but  still,  as  of 
yore,  it  is  true  that  "  they  are  dead  who  sought  the 
young  child's  life,"  and  he  endures.  So  it  will  be 
again;  these  vagaries  in  23hilosophy  will  pass  away, 
even  as  the  fleecy  clouds  remove  from  the  summit  of 
Mont  Blanc ;  but  he  abides  like  the  grand  old  mount- 
ain in  its  majestic  mantle  of  stainless  and  eternal 
purity.  Hear  him,  therefore,  and  keep  fast  hold  of 
his  sayings :  so  shall  you  partake  of  his  stability.  But 
if  you  allow  yourselves  to  drift  away  even  in  the  least 
degree  from  him,  that  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  his- 
tory which  will  end  in  outer  darkness. 

II.  The  second  current  to  which  I  would  refer  is 
that  of  the  place  in  which  we  dwell.     Every  city  has 


DRIFTING.  253 

its  own  peculiar  influence.  In  the  Place  de  la  Con- 
corde in  Paris,  each  principal  town  in  France  is  repre- 
sented by  an  emblematic  figure  ;  and  as  I  went  through 
that  magnificent  square,  on  the  day  of  the  great /efe  of 
the  Republic,  and  saw  the  statue  of  Strasbourg  draped 
in  mourning,  while  everything  around  was  dressed  in 
holiday  attire,  I  had  a  vivid  perception  of  the  humili- 
ation and  grief  which  the  possession  of  that  city  by 
the  Germans  has  been  to  the  whole  French  people. 
But  that  is  a  digression.  Each  city  there  had  its  own 
ideal  representative  in  the  statue  of  a  woman.  I  can- 
not tell  whether  the  artist  intended  to  delineate  the 
character  of  the  city  by  the  figure  which  he  called  by  its 
name ;  but  we  all  know  that  there  is  in  each  city  a  spirit 
which,  as  it  were,  inspires  it ;  a  current  which  bears  all 
in  it  more  or  less  rapidly  upon  its  bosom.  Take  the  cap- 
ital of  New  England  for  example,  and  you  cannot  be  long 
in  it  without  knowing  that  it  is  especially  and  distinct- 
ively intellectual.  A  man  there  is  graduated  according 
to  his  education.  The  scholar  bears  the  palm,  and  if 
in  addition  to  his  learning  he  possess  some  artistic 
excellence  or  some  literary  ability,  he  is  ranked  so 
much  the  higher.  That  current  has  its  own  dangers  ; 
but  that  is  not  the  current  that  is  running  in  New 
York.  It  is  true  indeed  that  intellect  is  not  despised 
among  us.  We  have  a  few  names  even  in  this  literary 
Sardis  that  do  honor  to  the  land.  Neither  do  we  look 
with  contempt  upon  scholarship  or  art.  But  here 
commerce  is  supreme.  The  "place-current"  for  us 
is  business.  I  do  not  suppose  that  everybody  in 
the  city  is  fond  of  money,  or  desires  to  possess  it, 
simply  and  only  for  its  own  sake.  But  everybody 
loves  business.  There  is  an  excitement  and  fascina- 
tion in  that  for  all,  and  they  cannot  tear  themselves 
away  from  it.     They  are  not  all  thinking  of  what  they 


254  DRIPTING. 

will  make,  but  many  of  tliem  love  it  as  boys  love  a 
game ;  and  if  they  are  in  it  at  all,  they  must  be  in  it  al- 
together, else  they  will  at  length  be  dishonored  and 
unsuccessful. 

Now  this  current,  also,  is  not  without  its  dangers 
to  the  spiritual  life.  Business,  indeed,  is  not  incom- 
patible with  piety,  and  it  will  not  of  necessity  stir 
a  man  up  to  antagonism  against  the  gospel,  but  it 
may  so  pre-occupy  his  mind  and  pre-engage  his  heart 
that  he  ceases  to  think  about  religious  matters  at 
all ;  that  is,  it  may  drift  him  away  from  the  things 
spoken  by  the  Lord.  In  his  earlier  days,  the  young 
man  may  have  been  devout  in  his  closet,  and  a  daily 
student  of  the  sacred  Scriptures.  Perhaps,  also,  he  was 
an  earnest  teacher  in  some  mission  school.  You  never 
missed  him  from  the  weekly  prayer-meeting,  and 
when  anything  sj^ecial  was  to  be  done  for  the  church, 
he  was  always  on  hand  to  help.  But  as  his  business 
responsibilities  increased,  lie  became  less  earnest  in 
these  respects  ;  and  when  he  went  into  commerce  for 
himself,  he  drifted  yet  farther  away.  He  had  to  go  so 
early  in  the  morning  that  he  forgot  prayer.  He  came 
home  so  tired  in  the  evening  that  he  had  no  heart  to 
read  either  the  Bible  or  any  other  book,  and  he  sought 
rest  in  some  place  of  questionable  amusement.  The 
prayer-meeting  was  neglected.  Even  the  Sabbath  was 
less  cared  for  than  before,  and  he  was  not  averse  to 
sandwiching  it  in  between  the  Saturday  and  the  Mon- 
day as  a  traveling  day  on  some  long  journey  to  a 
Western  city ;  and  then,  if  we  spoke  to  him  on  the 
subject,  he  would  be  ready  with  the  retort — "  Be 
not  righteous  overmuch,"  and  go  away  with  a  laugh. 
Now  what  is  all  this  but  drifting  on  the  place-cur- 
rent ?  and  where  is  it  to  end  ?  Ah,  if  there  be  any  of 
you  who  feel  that  I  have  been  holding  up  a  mirror 


DKIFTING.  255 

wherein  you  liave  seen  yourselves,  let  me  urge  you  to 
take  heed.  You  are  giving  too  much  for  your  business 
success,  and  if  you  do  not  return  to  your  old  anchor- 
age, you  may  find  yourselves  at  length  among  the 
openly  ungodly,  who  have  passed  from  the  neglecting, 
to  the  despising  and  rejecting,  of  the  great  salvation. 
Get  back  again  to  Christ.  "  There  is  no  stability  save 
in  him.  Listen  to  his  exhortations.  Lay  fast  hold 
upon  his  principles.  Grasp  firmly  his  loving  and 
fraternal  hand.  If  he  be  the  eternal  Son,  you  cannot 
drift  from  him  without  loss,  aye,  a  twofold  loss— the 
loss  of  him  and  the  loss  of  yourselves.  So,  before  you 
are  in  the  rapids  where  all  struggle  would  be  unavail- 
ing, before  you  are  carried  over  the  fall  to  irremediable 
perdition,  let  me  entreat  you  to  go  back  to  him  who 
alone  can  make  business  safe  for  you,  by  teaching  you 
to  transact  it  as  a  part  of  your  worship  and  service  of 
himself. 

But  though  we  may  not  have  gone  to  such  a  length 
as  that  which  I  have  described,  it  would  not  be  safe  to 
infer  that  the  "  place-current  "  has  had  no  effect  what- 
ever upon  us.  Even  a  steamship  is  afifected  by  the  tide. 
She  will  make  better  time  coming  up  the  bay  with  the 
flow  than  against  the  ebb.  And  it  is  easier  in  spirit- 
ual things,  also,  to  go  with  the  stream,  than  it  is  to 
row  against  it.  Nay,  more,  the  same  effort  which  we 
put  forth  to  breast  it  would,  in  other  circumstances, 
produce  more  satisfactory  results.  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  it  is  a  less  difficult  matter  to  be  an  earnest 
Christian  in  some  cities  than  it  is  in  others ;  and  in  a 
large  metropolitan  center  like  this,  the  tide  is  all  the 
time  running  very  strongly  against  us.  We  ought, 
therefore,  to  allow  for  that,  and  be  all  the  more  earn- 
est in  the  maintenance  of  our  spiritual  life.  Then,  so 
far  from  being  injured  by  the  current,  we  shall  be 


256  DEIPTING. 

benefited  and  strengthened,  and  rise  to  a  nobler  type 
of  Christian  excellence  than  may  be  found  elsewhere. 
But  to  do  that  we  must  take  heed.  We  must  guard 
against  the  slightest  backsliding ;  and  to  succeed  in 
that  we  must  constantly  test  ourselves  by  the  things 
which  we  have  heard  from  Jesus.  The  navigator  is 
saved  from  danger  from  unknown  currents  by  his 
daily  observations.  The  tides  of  ocean  do  not  affect 
the  heavenly  bodies  ;  and  by  testing  himself  by  these 
he  knows  precisely  where  he  is.  So  the  23rinciples  of 
the  gospel  are  not  sliifted  by  the  tendencies  of  any 
place  ;  and  when  we  measure  ourselves  by  them,  we 
may  discover  how  it  is  with  us.  Let  us  not  take  it  for 
granted  that  because  we  are  making  some  effort  in  the 
right  direction,  therefore  we  must  be  going  forward. 
For  these  efforts  may  not  be  enough  to  resist  the 
force  of  the  current,  and  we  may  be  drifting  backward 
after  all.  You  remember  the  case  of  Sir  Edward 
Parry's  crew  in  the  Arctic  regions.  They  set  out  one 
day  to  draw  a  boat  over  the  ice,  expecting  thereby  to 
get  farther  northward  and  in  the  open  water,  but  after 
they  had  journeyed  thus  for,  if  I  remember  rightly, 
a  day  and  a  half  or  two  days,  they  took  an  observa- 
tion, which  revealed  to  their  surprise  that  they  were 
farther  south  than  they  .had  been  when  they  set  out, 
because  while  they  had  been  going  toward  the  pole, 
the  ice  on  which  they  were  had  been  carried  by  the 
drift  of  an  under-current  in  the  opposite  direction.  I 
fear,  my  brethren,  that  in  this  great  business  mart, 
where  we  are  so  exclusively  occupied  in  buying  and 
selling,  and  getting  gain,  many  Christians  among  us 
are  like  these  northern  voyagers  :  they  make  exertions, 
and  they  seem,  too,  to  be  making  progress  ;  but  alas  ! 
the  drift  that  carries  the  whole  place  has  carried  them 
with  it,  and  in  reality  they  are  not  so  far  advanced  as 


DEIFTING.  257 

they  were,  it  may  be,  years  ago.  This  is  a  matter 
which  we  seldom  think  about,  but  it  will  bear  pouder- 
ing  ;  and  I  earnestly  beseech  you  to  examine  well  and 
see  whether  you  are  even  holding  your  own  against 
the  stream  of  opposite  tendency  that  is  flowing  con- 
stantly in  our  city. 

III.  But  I  have  time  now  to  do  little  more  than  name 
a  third  current,  to  the  influence  of  which  we  are  ex- 
posed. I  would  call  it  the  personal  drift,  the  drift  in 
each  of  us  individually.  In  making  astronomical  ob- 
servations, one  operator  is  never  precisely  the  same 
as  another.  Some  are  quick,  others  are  slow  ;  some 
are  exceedingly  precise,  and  others  not  so  perfectly 
exact  ;  and  these  differences,  of  course,  affect  the  re- 
sults at  which  they  arrive.  Therefore,  to  neutralize, 
as  far  as  possible,  any  error  which  may  be  thereby  oc- 
casioned, tliere  is  what  is  known  as  a  "  personal  equa- 
tion "  for  each,  and  by  that  his  conclusions  are  recti- 
fied before  they  are  sent  forth  for  general  acceptance. 
Now,  in  a  similar  way,  spiritually,  each  man  has  his 
individual  tendencies,  which  easily  carry  him  in  one 
direction  or  another.  This  personal  drift,  as  I  have 
named  it,  is  the  same  thing  as  the  writer  of  the  Epis- 
tle from  which  my  text  is  taken  calls  in  another  place 
the  "  sin  that  doth  most  easily  beset  us,"  and  by 
yielding  to  that  many  are  carried  at  last  into  perdi- 
tion. How  easy  it  is  to  acquire  an  evil  habit !  No- 
body, of  mature  years  at  least,  ever  sets  himself  de- 
liberately to  learn  such  a  habit.  On  the  contrary, 
every  one  who  has  ever  known  or  felt  anything  like 
Christian  motives  working  within  him,  would  affirm 
that  he  neither  desires  nor  designs  to  let  himself  be 
enslaved  by  any  evil.  But  yet  how  many  such  be- 
come drunkards  before  they  will  confess  it  to  them- 


258  DRIFTING. 

selves  ?  How  many  sucli  become  gamblers  before 
tliey  will  admit  that  they  are  in  danger  from  the 
facination  of  the  cruel  siren  ?  How  many  such  are 
ensnared  and  held  by  the  cords  of  their  own  lusts, 
humiliated  at  their  helplessness,  and  yet  hardly 
able  to  explain  to  themselves  how  they  came  to  such 
degradation  ?  How  many  such  have  become  dishon- 
est, who,  as  they  now  look  back  upon  the  history  of 
the  past,  are  amazed  and  bewildered,  and  feel  as  if 
they  had  been  in  some  terrible  nightmare  ?  All  these 
have  yielded  to  the  personal  drift,  and  if,  haply,  there 
should  be  any  such  within  these  walls  now,  let  me 
beseech  them  to  repent  and  return  unto  the  Lord. 
There  is  no  hope,  and  no  help,  either  for  time  or  for 
eternity,  for  you  save  in  him.  E-ise,  then,  in  the  might 
of  the  strength  which  he  will  give  you,  and  break  the 
bonds  of  the  habit  by  which  you  have  been  enthralled. 
Rise  and  he  will  give  you  pardon  and  peace  ;  yes,  and 
purity,  too,  at  length ;  and  oh,  do  not  allow  yourself 
to  be  allured  again  to  the  lap  of  your  seducer,  for  if 
you  do  she  will  deliver  you  up  to  the  tormentors,  who 
will  set  you,  Samson-like,  to  grind  for  their  profit,  or 
to  make  mirth  for  their  sport. 

But  prevention  is  better  than  cure,  and  therefore 
would  I  urge  every  one  of  you  to  examine  well  his 
own  heart,  that  he  may  discover  what  his  besetment 
is,  and  to  take  special  care  just  there.  Wliat  a  wide 
difference  there  is  between  Lot  as  he  was  when  he 
was  the  companion  of  Abraham,  and  when  he  was 
hurried  by  the  angel  out  of  the  burning  Sodom ! 
These  two,  who  came  together  out  of  Uz  of  the 
Chaldees,  are  now  far  apart ;  and  how  is  it  explained  ? 
Simply  by  Lot's  personal  drift.  Abraham  was  where 
he  had  always  been,  or  rather  he  had  gone  farther  in 
the  direction  of  excellence  which  he  had  been  pur- 


DKIFTING.  259 

suing,  and  in  wliicli  for  a  time  he  had  Lot,  as  it  were, 
in  tow.  But  wlien  that  choice  of  the  well-watered 
plain  was  made  by  the  latter,  he  cut  the  tow-line  and 
drifted — drifted — into  the  plain — into  Sodom — into  fel- 
lowship with  the  Sodomites ;  and  lo !  this  is  the 
end — nay,  not  yet  the  end,  for  there  is  a  darker,  un- 
speakable history  behind  which  illustrates  more  terri- 
bly the  danger  I  would  describe.  O  friends,  let  us 
not  be  self-confident  here,  or  imagine  that  there  is  no 
fear  of  us.  That  imagination  is  itself  the  beginning 
of  this  personal  drift.  Distrust  yourselves,  and  trust 
only,  but  always,  in  the  Lord.  Watch  the  little 
things,  and  let  no  lust,  or  appetite,  or  passion  obtain 
dominion  over  you.  Anchor  on  to  Christ,  and  that  is 
the  sure  preventive  of  all  such  drifting  as  I  have  been 
seeking  to  expose.  Be  not  content  with  coming  to 
him,  but  follow  him  ;  and  Oh  !  beware  of  following  him 
only  "  afar  off,"  for  it  was  in  that  way  that  Peter  came 
so  near  apostasy.  Follow  him  fully,  and  he  will 
bring  you  at  last,  in  spite  of  all  adverse  currents  and 
contrary  winds,  to  the  haven  of  everlasting  blessed- 
ness and  rest. 
March  19, 1883 


/   ) 


THE   INDUCTIVE  STUDY  OF  THE 
SCRIPTURES.* 

Matt.  iv.  7.     "It  is  written  again." 

"When  Satan  tempted  Christ  to  cast  himself  from 
the  pinnacle  of  the  temple,  and  sought  to  enforce  his 
request  by  a  quotation  from  Scripture,  the  Lord  did 
not  meet  him  with  a  denial  of  the  inspiration  or  au- 
thority of  the  promise  which  he  had  repeated ;  but  he 
brought  in  the  corrective  of  another  passage  from  the 
word  of  God  in  the  light  of  which  the  former  was  to 
be  interpreted  and  applied.  To  the  "  it  is  written  " 
of  his  assailant  he  answered,  "It  is  written  again." 
He  did  not  rej)udiate  the  assurance  which  Satan  had 
so  glibly  cited,  but  he  intimated  that  he  looked  for  its 
verification  only  in  connection  with  his  obedience  of 
the  command  "Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy 
God."  The  injunction,  Thou  shalt  not  put  to  any  un- 
necessary test,  by  thy  false  confidence,  or  bravado, 
the  Lord  thy  God,  is  for  all  times  and  circumstances ; 
and  only  those  who  are  obeying  that  precept  have  a 
right  to  look  for  the  fulfillment  of  this  promise,  "  He 
shall  give  his  angels  charge  concerning  thee,  and  in 
their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time 
thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone."  What  the  Sav- 
iour did  here,  therefore,  was  to  fill  out  and  complete 
the  interpretation  of  the  passage  which  Satan  had  re- 


*  This   discourse  was  given  to  the  theological  students  at  Yale, 
Princeton  and  Rochester  Theological  Seminaries. 


THE  INDUCTIYE  STUDY  OF  THE  SCRIPTUKES.        261 

peated,  and  lie  did  that  by  showing  from  another  pas- 
sage the  conditions  within  which  alone  the  former 
could  be  rationally  and  intelligently  accejoted. 

Now  the  procedure  of  the  Lord  in  this  instance  plainly 
implies  that  one  portion  or  saying  of  scripture  is  to  be 
read  in  connection  with  all  other  portions  of  it,  and  is 
to  be  understood  and  interpreted  only  in  that  sense 
which  is  in  harmony  with  every  other  utterance  of  the 
sacred  oracles.  "  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration 
of  God,"  and  we  accept  it  all  as  the  only  infallible 
rule  of  faith  and  practice  in  religious  things.  But 
then,  in  so  accepting  it,  we  receive  its  individual  state- 
ments as  they  are  defined  and  explained  by  all  the 
rest.  No  part  of  it  is  to  be  taken  isolated  and  alone, 
but  it  is  to  be  viewed  as  a  whole,  and  the  doctrines  of 
our  creed  as  well  as  the  duties  of  our  life  are  to  be 
discovered  by  us  through  an  exhaustive  examination, 
not  of  separate  passages,  but  of  the  whole  teaching 
and  tenor  of  the  entire  collection  of  treatises  which 
we  call  the  Bible.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  be  able 
to  quote  one  text  in  proof  of  anything  which  we  mean 
to  advance  as  an  article  of  faith,  or  enforce  as  a  duty  in 
daily  life  ;  but  we  must  examine  how  that  one  passage 
is  related  to  the  place  in  which  it  occurs,  and  to  all 
other  portions  of  the  Scriptures  which  treat  of  the 
same  subject.  That  is  to  say,  we  must  study  the  Bible 
inductively,  and  explore  its  pages  with  a  purpose  and 
a  method  similar  to  those  with  which  the  man  of 
science  investigates  the  facts  of  nature.  He  gathers 
his  instances,  noting  everything  that  is  peculiar  in  the 
case  of  each  ;  then,  having  obtained  some  general  prin- 
ciple which  is  applicable  to  them  all,  he  arranges  and 
classifies  them ;  and  after  that  he  crystallizes  the 
result  into  some  convenient  formula  which  he  calls  the 
law  of  the  i^henomena.     In  this  way,  out  of  the  facts 


262         THE   INDUCTIVE   STUDY  OF  THE   SCRIPTURES. 

of  vegetable  life  lie  has  evolved  the  science  of  botany ; 
out  of  the  phenomena  of  the  heavens  he  has  distilled 
the  science  of  astronomy ;  and  out  of  the  strata  of  the 
earth  he  is  seeking  to  complete  the  science  of  geology. 
Now,  what  Nature  is  thus  to  the  physical  philosopher, 
Scripture  is  to  the  theologian.  It  furnishes  him  with 
a  field  of  observation.  Its  statements  are  to  him  what 
the  phenomena  of  nature  are  to  the  man  of  science. 
They  are  the  things  which  he  has  to  note,  classify  and 
formulate.  God  has  not  given  us  a  religious  system 
all  arranged  and  maj^ped  out  into  its  several  depart- 
ments in  the  Book  of  Bevelation,  any  more  than  he 
has  given  us  a  scientific  division  of  phenomena  in  the 
book  of  nature ;  but  there  is  a  divine  method  alike 
in  both,  and  it  is  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of  men  to 
find  that  out  in  both  by  a  persevering  and  exhaustive 
examination.  Thus,  whatever  it  may  come  to  be  in 
man's  use  of  it,  a  system  is,  at  the  beginning,  the  result 
of  investigation  and  not  a  guide  to  inquiry.  As- 
tronomy, for  example,  is,  as  a  science,  the  outcome  of 
years  of  observation,  calculation  and  demonstration 
on  the  part  of  many  men  of  genius  from  the  days  of 
Copernicus  down  to  our  own.  Yet  when  we  teach  our 
children  the  great  principles  which  have  been  deduced 
by  these  philosophers  and  tell  them,  in  apj)arent  con- 
tradiction to  the  testimony  of  their  own  senses,  that 
the  earth  moves  round  the  sun  and  not  the  sun  round 
the  earth,  nobody  complains  of  our  interfering  with 
the  young  people's  liberty  of  investigation,  or  exclaims 
that  we  are  binding  a  yoke  of  system  about  their  necks. 
But  in  precisely  the  same  way  systematic  theology  is, 
in  its  origin,  a  result.  It  is  the  formal  statement  of  the 
conclusions  arrived  at  from  the  diligent  investigation 
of  the  Scriptures  as  a  whole,  by  many  men  of  patient, 
painstaking,  plodding  perseverance  from  the  days  of 


THE  INDUCTIVE   STUDY  OF  THE   SCRIPTURES.        2G3 

Augustine  to  those  of  Hodge ;  and  there  needs  be  no 
more  outcry  against  teaching  our  children  the  prin- 
ciples at  which  such  men  have  arrived  than  there  is 
against  initiating  them  into  geology  under  Lyell  or 
into  astronomy  under  Newcomb.  I  have  said  this  as 
a  vindication  of  the  much-decried  use  of  the  catechism 
in  the  religious  instruction  of  the  young,  and  to  show 
you  that  in  the  educational  employment  which  is  thus 
made  of  system,  theology  does  not  differ  from  any 
other  of  the  sciences. 

But  while  all  this  is  true,  we  ought,  as  far  as 
possible,  in  theology  to  make,  or  at  least  to  verify, 
our  system  for  ourselves,  and  to  do  that  we  must 
study  the  Bible  inductively ;  that  is  to  say,  we  must 
study  it  first  as  a  whole ;  then  we  must  take  one  sub- 
ject, and  having  gathered  together  into  one  view  all 
the  passages  that  Scripture  contains  anywhere  con- 
cerning it,  we  must  seek  some  principle  of  classifi- 
cation among  them  ;  reduce  them  all  to  some  general 
formula  which  shall  embrace  everything  which  each 
contributes,  and  find  in  that  the  doctrine  which  the 
word  of  God  teaches  on  the  matter.  And  when  any 
one  advances  some  new  dogma,  then,  even  as  the  man 
of  science  seeks  to  repeat  the  experiment  which  is 
alleged  to  have  demonstrated  the  new  principle,  we 
must  repeat  his  investigation,  test  his  reasonings, 
examine  into  the  fullness  or  otherwise  of  his  induction, 
and  decide  accordingly.  It  is  not  enough  that  he  is 
able  to  say  "  it  is  written  "  thus  and  so ;  but  he  must 
be  able  to  show  that  his  interpretation  and  application 
of  the  words  which  he  cites  are  in  harmony  with  every 
other  "  It  is  written  again  "  which  can  be  brought  be- 
fore him  from  the  same  sacred  source. 

Now  in  prosecuting  such  a  systematic  and  inductive 


264        THE  INDUCTIVE  STUDY  OF  THE   SCRIPTURES. 

examination  of  the  Scriptures,  there  are  three  things 
in  reference  to  which  we  must  be  always  on  our  guard. 
In  the  first  place,  we  must  see  to  it  that  all  the  pas- 
sages, brought  together  for  some  such  purpose  as  that 
which  I  have  described,  have  a  real  bearing  on  the 
subject  in  hand.  We  must  not  mistake  resemblance 
in  sound  for  similarity  in  sense  and  allusion.  One 
cannot  examine  the  references  in  an  ordinary  study 
Bible,  without  noting  how  many  of  the  parallels  cited 
have  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the  meaning  and  ap- 
plication of  the  passage  in  connection  with  which  they 
are  quoted.  When  any  question  arises  among  geolo- 
gists, the  thing  is  settled  by  an  appeal  to  the  situation 
in  which  the  specimen  was  found.  Now  in  the  same 
way  all  passages  which  we  bring  forth  as  bearing  on  a 
subject  must  be  examined  "  in  silu,''  and  only  those 
which  are  really  pertinent  ought  to  be  permitted 
to  be  heard.  As  an  illustration  of  my  meaning  here, 
let  me  cite  a  case  which  happened  in  my  own  ex- 
perience. The  question  whether  it  is  right  for  a 
sinner  to  pray — a  very  foolish  question,  let  me  say — 
being  under  discussion,  one  of  the  disputants  quoted 
from  John  ix.,  31,  the  words  :  "  We  know  that  God 
heareth  not  sinners,  but  if  any  man  be  a  worshiper 
of  God,  and  doeth  his  will,  him  he  heareth,"  as  if  these 
settled  the  matter.  But  a  little  investigation  will  show 
that  this  passage  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
prayer.  It  is  the  assertion  of  the  man  who  had  been 
cured  of  his  blindness,  and  is  his  own  way  of  alleging 
that  one  who  could  work  such  a  miracle  as  had  been 
performed  upon  him,  could  not  be  an  impostor,  and 
must  be  more  than  a  mere  man.  Apart  altogether, 
therefore,  from  the  fact  that  this  poor,  unlettered  man 
was  not  speaking  by  any  divine  inspiration,  and  so 
cannot  be  accepted  as  an  infallible  authority  in  the 


THE   INDUCTIVE   STUDY   OP  THE   SCEIPTUEES.        265 

case,  his  words  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  warrant 
or  liberty  of  a  sinner  to  pray,  and  have  no  partiuence 
to  any  discussion  upon  that  subject.  Thus  an  exam- 
ination of  the  circumstances  in  connection  with  which 
a  passage  occurs  is  essential  to  the  discovery  of  its 
real  teaching ;  and  no  saying  must  be  wrested  from 
its  connection  for  the  purpose  of  bolstering  up  a  pre- 
conceived theory  or  opinion. 

But,  in  the  second  place,  we  must  see  to  it  that  we 
give  to  each  passage  its  own  legitimate  weight — no 
more,  no  less.  Everything  that  is  found  recorded  in 
the  Bible  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  regarded  as  of  divine 
and  infallible  authority.  This  saying  may  be  startling 
to  some,  but  a  little  explanation  will  make  it  clear. 
Thus,  the  historian,  Luke,  incorporates  in  his  narra- 
tive of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  the  letter  of  Claudius 
Lysias,  the  commandant  of  the  castle  of  Jerusalem,  to 
Felix,  the  governor.  Now  the  inspiration  of  Luke 
vouches  for  the  accurate  reproduction  of  that  letter, 
but  its  appearance  in  his  narrative  is  not  an  indorse- 
ment of  the  falsehood  which  it  contains  to  the  effect 
that  Lysias  rescued  Paul  because  he  understood  that 
he  was  a  Roman  citizen ;  for  his  own  record  tells  us 
that  it  was  only  after  the  apprehension  of  Paul,  and 
just  when  he  was  in  the  act  of  having  him  bound  in 
order  to  be  scourged,  that  he  found  out  that  the  apos- 
tle was  a  Roman.  So,  again,  there  are  many  records 
of  conversations  between  different  persons  in  the  Bible ; 
and,  finding  these  there,  we  are  entitled  to  conclude 
that  they  are  correct  reports  of  what  each  speaker 
said  ;  but  that  does  not  give  infallible  authority  to  the 
sentiments  uttered  by  each.  Thus,  take  the  book  of 
Job,  for  example,  and  we  have  in  it  an  account  of  a 
series  of  discussions  between  the  patriarch  and  his 
friends.  Now  inspiration  does  not  misrepresent  the 
13 


266        THE  INDUCTIVE   STUDY  OF  THE   SCEIPTUBES. 

speakers,  and  we  may  conclude  tliat  each  uttered  that 
wliich  is  attributed  to  him.  But  that  is  a  different 
thing  from  saying  that  Elij)haz,  Biklad,  Zophar,  Elihu 
and  Job  were  all  inspired  men,  and  that,  if  we  find  in 
the  speeches  of  any  one  of  them  something  favoring  a 
particular  opinion  of  our  own,  we  may  conclude  that 
we  have  Scriptural  sanction  for  its  maintenance.  The 
Bible  contains  the  assertion,  "  Skin  for  skin,  yea,  all 
that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life,"  but  that  is 
Satan's  word  and  not  God's  ;  and  he  who  should  quote 
that  in  support  of  the  assertion  that  a  man  ought  to 
use  all  means  for  saving  his  life  is  not  giving  divine 
warrant  for  his  doctrine,  but  rather  citing  the  devil's 
opinion  of  human  nature — an  opinion,  moreover,  which 
Satan  himself  discovered  was  not  universally  correct, 
inasmuch  as  Job  preferred  his  integrity  to  his  life. 
Nicodemus  was  right  when  he  said  :  "  We  know  that 
thou  art  a  teacher  sent  from  God,  for  no  man  can  do 
these  miracles  that  thou  doest  except  God  be  with 
him ; "  but  we  may  not  cite  that  opinion  as  if  it  settled 
the  question  as  to  the  evidential  value  of  miracles  by 
divine  inspiration.  It  was  simply  the  view  of  a  candid, 
honest  man,  and  if  we  want  divine  warrant  for  its  cor- 
rectness we  must  go  to  Christ  himself,  or  to  one  of  the 
apostles.  The  saying  of  Benhadad  :  "Let  not  him  that 
putteth  on  his  armor  boast  like  him  that  putteth  it 
off,"  was  a  very  wise  one;  but  it  was  a  maxim  of 
wordly  prudence,  and  it  is  not  lifted  up  into  divine 
morality  by  being  reported  in  the  Book  of  Kings. 
These  and  many  similar  passages  which  might  be 
cited,  may  serve  to  show  that  when  we  find  a  passage 
bearing  on  a  j)oint  in  hand,  we  must  take  care  to  give 
it  no  more  and  no  less  that  its  legitimate  weight. 

Thirdly,  we  must  see  to  it  that  our  induction  of  pas- 
sages is  comj^lete.     In  the  logical  argument  which  is 


THE  INDUCTIVE  STUDY  OF  THE  SCRIPTUKES.        267 

known  as  a  dilemma,  and  wliicli  proceeds  on  the  as- 
sumption that  one  or  other  of  two  things  must  be 
true,  the  conclusion  is  at  once  disproved  if  you  can 
bring  forward  a  third  thing  which  may  as  easily  be  true 
as  either  of  the  other  two.  And,  in  the  same  way,  the 
conclusion  which  one  draws  from  an  induction  of  par- 
ticulars is  fatally  vitiated  if  some  other  particular  of  a 
different  sort  ought  to  have  been  included.  Thus,  in 
the  case  of  such  a  doctrine  as  the  Atonement,  if,  like 
Macleod  Campbell,  one  takes  his  stand  merely  upon 
two  passages  of  Scripture,  and  deals  with  them  as  if 
they  were  all  that  had  a  bearing  on  the  subject,  it  is 
enough  to  upset  his  conclusion  to  declare  that  he  has 
utterly  ignored  other  portions  of  the  word  of  God 
having  a  different  aspect  and  yet  clearly  referring  to 
the  same  great  theme.  One  unexplained  fact,  as  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  was  free  to  confess,  would  upset  the 
most  plausible  and  insinuating  theory,  and  in  the 
same  way  one  passage  of  Scripture  fairly  bearing  on 
the  theme  in  hand,  and  yet  inconsistent  with  the  doc- 
trine sought  to  be  formulated,  demands  a  reconsider- 
ation of  the  subject  and  a  restatement  of  the  conclusion. 

These  principles  seem  to  me  to  be  so  clear  that  no 
further  argument  is  needed  in  their  support.  Now 
let  us  look  at  a  few  subjects  in  the  consideration  of 
which  the  importance  of  their  application  will  be 
seen. 

Take,  then,  in  the  first  place,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  and  it  will  be  found  that  while  there  are 
many  passages  in  both  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
New  which  give  the  strongest  emphasis  to  the  unity 
of  God,  "  it  is  written  again,"  and  frequently,  that  the 
Father  is  God,  and  the  Son  is  God,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  God  ;  while  in  such  formulae  as  that  of  bap- 


268         THE  INDUCTIVE   STUDY   OF  THE   SCRIPTURES. 

tism  and  that  of  the  apostolic  benediction,  each  is  so 
named  as  to  indicate  that  there  is  in  each  somethinsf 
that  is  unique  and  distinctive.  Fatherhood  is  not 
Sonship  ;  and  there  is  that  attributed  to  the  Holy 
Ghost  which  is  peculiar  to  him.  Now  how  shall  we 
do  in  such  a  case  ?  If  we  so  keep  to  the  divine  unity 
as  to  repudiate  the  deity  of  the  Son  and  that  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  we  fall  into  the  error  of  the  Socinian 
and  are  guilty  of  an  imperfect  induction.  If,  again, 
we  begin  to  describe  the  distinction  between  the  three 
in  human  phraseology,  we  are  in  danger  of  falling 
into  tri-theism,  and  so  repudiating  that  unity  which 
is  everywhere  in  Scripture  predicated  of  God.  We 
must  therefore  find  some  formula  in  which  the  deity 
of  each  shall  be  recognized,  while  yet  the  unity  of  the 
Godhead  shall  be  maintained.  If  we  attempt  to  ex- 
plain the  "  how,"  we  shall  immediately  land  ourselves 
in  difficuly ;  but  if  we  mean  to  be  faithful  to  Scripture 
teaching  on  the  subject,  we  must  find  some  place  for 
an  acknowledgment  of  both  facts.  Whether  the  word 
"  j)erson,"  which  has  been  settled  on  as  that  by  which 
to  designate  the  distinction  is  the  best,  may  fairly 
enough  be  questioned ;  for  if  we  take  that  term  in  its 
modern  sense  it  is  almost  suo;o;estive  of  tri-theism  : 
and  if  we  restrict  it  to  its  ancient  significance,  it  may 
lead  us  to  that  Sabellianism  which  resolved  the  Trin- 
ity simply  into  modes  of  the  divine  manifestation ;  so, 
perhaps,  it  would  be  better  to  content  ourselves  with 
saying  that  the  Father  is  God,  and  the  Son  is  God,  and 
the  SjDirit  is  God ;  and  that  while  each  of  these  terms 
denotes  something  distinctive  and  restricted  to  him 
who  is  called  by  it,  yet  the  deity  of  each  must  not  be 
held  in  any  such  sense  as  violates  the  incontrovertible 
truth,  that  "  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Jehovah."  If 
you  ask  me  to  explain  how  this  can  be,  I  acknowledge 


THE   INDUCTIVE   STUDY   OF   THE   SCEIPTUEES.        269 

my  lielplessness  ;  but  if  I  am  to  formulate  the  result 
of  a  full  Scriptural  induction  on  this  subject,  I  must 
do  it  in  some  such  manner  as  that  which  I  have  just 
expressed.  I  dare  not  reject  either  side  of  the  ap- 
parent inconsistency  without  failing  to  take  note  of 
some  of  the  Bible  statements  on  the  subject,  and  if  I 
do  that,  I  am  guilty  of  setting  mj^self  above  revela- 
tion, and  making  my  reason  and  not  Scripture  the  in- 
fallible standard  of  my  faith.  If  I  do  that,  I  am  as 
unscientific  in  my  treatment  of  the  Bible,  as  I  should 
be  in  my  treatment  of  nature  if  I  took  note  only  of 
such  facts  as  fitted  my  theory  and  ignored  all  others. 
Take,  again,  the  doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Christ, 
and  we  have  in  it  an  illustration  precisely  similar  to 
that  of  the  Trinity.  The  Lord  Jesus  is  really  a  man. 
That  is  everywhere  apparent  in  the  gospel  history. 
But  then  his  was  a  unique  manhood,  giving  constant 
evidence  that  there  was  in  him  something  higher  and 
nobler  than  common  humanity.  Moreover  he  is  con- 
stantly spoken  of  by  his  followers  as  one  possessed 
of  Deity,  or  rather,  to  speak  more  correctly,  as  one  in 
whom  Deity  was  united  to  humanity.  Thus  John  de- 
scribes him  in  this  wise  :  "  The  "Word  was  made  flesh 
and  dwelt  among  us  ;  "  and  in  immediate  connection 
with  that  assertion  he  affirms  :  "  The  Word  was  God." 
Again,  Paul  declares  that  being  originally  "  in  the  form 
of  God  "  he  took  upon  him  "  the  form  of  a  servant," 
and  if  any  one  should  shelter  himself  here  under  the 
word  "  form,"  as  if  that  meant  something  different  from 
real  godhood,  the  sufficient  answer  is  found  in  the  fact 
that  the  form  of  a  servant  describes  a  very  real  ser- 
vice ;  so  that  the  apostle  in  these  expressions  virtually 
claims  for  him  that  he  is  God  in  human  nature.  Nor 
are  these  isolated  passages ;  multitudes  of  others 
might  be  cited  to  the  same   effect,  while  there  are 


270   THE  INDUCTIVE  STUDY  OF  THE  SCRITTUEES. 

some  that  speak  of  Lis  manliood  alone,  and  others 
•which  make  reference  only  to  his  deity.  What,  then, 
does  a  fair  induction  from  all  these  require  ?  It  "  is 
written  "  that  he  is  a  man.  But  "  it  is  written  again  " 
that  he  is  God.  Shall  I  then  reject  either  ?  No  ;  for 
that  would  be  unscientific,  and  would  be  a  repudia- 
tion of  the  Bible  as  the  guide  of  my  faith.  I  must 
accept  both,  however  mysterious,  and,  indeed,  incom- 
prehensible the  miracle  may  be,  I  must  declare  that 
in  the  one  person  of  Christ  deity  and  manhood  are 
united.  If  I  begin  to  refine  into  particulars  I  shall 
soon  find  myself  lost  in  uttermost  perplexity,  for  that 
is  always  the  result  of  seeking  to  be  wise  above  what 
is  written,  but  if  I  mean  to  be  wise  "  up  to  "  what  is 
written,  and  seek  to  formulate  all  that  the  New 
Testament  teaches  on  the  subject,  I  must  declare  in 
the  words  of  the  catechism,  that  "  the  eternal  Son  of 
God  became  man,  and  so  was,  and  continueth  to  be 
God  and  man  in  two  distinct  natures  and  one  person 
for  ever." 

Very  instructive  in  this  particular  is  the  record  of 
church  history.  Almost  every  conceivable  opinion  on 
this  subject  has  been  broached  by  some  one;  and 
every  new  view  that  is  started  upon  it  will  be  found 
to  be  virtually  the  resurrection  of  some  old  heresy, 
and  may  be  shown  to  be  founded  on  an  imperfect  in- 
duction of  Scripture  teaching  regarding  it ;  while 
that  which  has  been  settled  upon  as  the  orthodox 
faith  upon  it  may  be  considered  as  the  final  result  of 
a  reverent  attempt  continued  for  many  ages,  to  give 
expression  to  the  sum  of  Scriptural  teaching  in  answer 
to  the  question  :  "  "Who  is  this  Son  of  Man  ?  "  There 
is  only  one  w'ay  of  holding  a  spirit-level  which  will 
keep  the  vacuum  exactly  at  the  center,  and  if  you 
swerve  from  that  even  in  the  least  degree,  the  vacuum 


THE  INDUCTIYE   STUDY  OF  THE   SCKIPTUEES.        271 

will  ultimately  move  either  to  one  extremity  or  the  other. 
So  in  the  orthodox  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  the  per- 
son of  Christ  you  have  the  only  resting-place  where 
you  can  permanently  remain  and  do  justice  to  all  that 
the  Bible  says  about  it ;  for  if  you  go  on  the  one  side, 
you  will  land  yourself  ultimately  in  the  extreme  of 
that  humanitarianism  which  sees  in  Christ  nothing 
more  than  a  man ;  while  if  you  move  to  the  other, 
you  will  find  yourself  at  length  in  that  error  of  the 
ancient  Docetse,  who  regarded  Christ's  human  body 
as  a  phantom  or  mere  appearance,  and  so  believed 
only  in  his  deity.  The  true  inductive  spirit  compels 
us  to  accept  them  both,  and  to  hold  that  he  was  and 
is  God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 

We  may  illustrate  this  principle,  also,  by  a  refer- 
ence to  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement.  "When  we  ex- 
amine the  New  Testament  we  find  that  subject  spoken 
of  in  four  difierent,  yet  not  inconsistent,  aspects.  It  is 
called  a  sacrifice,  as  when  Christ  is  said  to  have  "borne 
our  sins,"  and  is  designated  as  "  the  Lamb  of  God 
that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world."  It  is  styled 
a  redemption,  as  when  Paul  says,  "  In  Christ  we  have 
redemption  through  his  blood,  even  the  forgiveness 
of  sins ; "  and  the  Lord  himself  affirms  that  "  The  Son 
of  man  is  come  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many." 
It  is  characterized  as  "  a  declaration  of  God's  right- 
eousness in  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  that  he  might  be 
just  and  yet  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  ;  "  and 
the  same  phase  of  it  is  presented  to  us  when,  the 
apostle  alleges  that  "  it  pleased  the  Father,  having 
made  peace  by  the  blood  of  his  cross,  by  him  to 
reconcile  all  things  unto  himself,"  for  the  making 
peace  by  the  blood  of  the  cross  is  as  evidently  some- 
thing prior  and  in  order  to  the  effecting  of  reconcilia- 
tion, and  must,  therefore,  be  equivalent  to  the  dec- 


272        THE  INTDUCTIYE   STUDY   OF  THE   SCErPTTRES. 

laration  of  rigliteousness  wliereby  he  is  just  and  jet 
the  justifier  of  the  believer.  And,  finally,  it  is  all 
traced  up  to  the  love  of  God,  "  who  gave  his  only  be- 
gotten Sou  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life."  Thus  the  death 
of  Christ  did  not  purchase  God's  love  for  sinners,  but 
manifested  that  love  and  opened  for  it  a  righteous 
channel  through  which  it  might  flow  to  guilty  men. 
Under  one  or  other  of  these  four  heads  I  believe  that 
all  the  Bible  references  to  this  great  theme  may  be 
arranged.  But  the  mere  fact  that  it  is  presented  to 
us  in  so  many  different  ways  is  a  proof  that  no  one 
mode  of  speech  can  fully  describe  its  character,  and 
the  great  source  of  the  discussions  which  have  been 
waged  over  it  is  to  be  found  in  this,  that  each  dis- 
putant has  adopted  one  of  these  modes  of  viewing  it, 
as  if  that  contained  the  whole  truth  about  it  and  in- 
volved in  it  the  negation  of  all  the  rest.  But  the 
right  induction  is  that  which  accepts  all  the  four,  and 
maintains  that  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement  fully 
formulated  must  be  the  great  whole  which  accepts 
them  all  and  holds  them  all  in  harmony  wdth  each 
other.  It  regards  Christ's  death  as  a  manifestation 
of  God's  love  in  the  provision  of  an  all-sufficient  sacri- 
fice for  human  sin,  whereby  God's  rigliteousness  is 
declared  in  the  forgiveness  and  salvation  of  believing 
men,  usually  called  their  redemption.  We  have  heard 
too  much  of  the  '  moral '  view,  and  the  '  legal'  view,  and 
the  '  governmental '  view,  and  so  forth,  of  the  atone- 
ment. Let  us  try  to  get  at  the  Scriptural  view,  and  to 
find  that  we  must  not  take  one  passage  and  make  it  in- 
terpret all  the  rest,  but  we  must  interrogate  them  all 
and  receive  with  reverent  faith  from  each  its  contribu- 
tion to  the  great  result. 

We  may  see  another  field   for  the  application  of 


THE  INDUCTIVE   STUDY  OF  THE   SCEIPTUEES.        273 

the  same  principles  in  the  investigation  of  tlie 
difficult  questions  wliicli  cluster  about  tlie  sover- 
eignty of  God  and  the  free  agency  of  man.  We 
have  some  passages  which  clearly  and  unequivocally 
declare  that  "  of  God  and  through  God  and  to  God 
are  all  things,"  and  there  are  others  which  as  cer- 
tainly teach  the  unfettered  moral  freedom  of  man. 
There  are  some  which  affirm  that  believers  are  chosen 
in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and 
others  that  j)lace  salvation  unequivocally  at  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  sinner's  will ;  there  are  some  which 
affirm  that  saints  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God 
through  faith  unto  salvation,  and  others  which  de- 
clare that  "  he  that  is  begotten  of  God  keepeth  him- 
self." Now,  here  again  the  same  questions  arise  : 
Shall  we  choose  the  one  and  reject  the  other  ;  or,  shall 
we  accept  both,  believing  both  to  be  in  harmony  in 
God,  however  incomprehensible  that  harmony  may 
now  seem  to  us  ?  If  we  take  the  first  alternative,  then 
we  are  guilty  of  rationalism — for  we  accept  of  Script- 
ure just  what  pleases  us,  and  reject  the  rest.  If  we 
take  the  second,  then,  though  intellectual  wiseacres 
may  sneer  at  us  as  fools,  we  deal  at  once  reverently 
and  inductively  with  the  sacred  oracles.  The  hyper- 
Calvinist  runs  away  with  the  divine  sovereignty,  as  if 
that  were  all ;  and  the  Arminian  walks  off  with 
human  freedom,  as  if  in  that  he  had  found  the  whole 
truth.  But  neither  of  them  accepts  the  full  truth,  or 
has  made  a  complete  induction.  It  is  the  old  story  of 
the  knights  and  the  shield  over  again.  Both  are  cor- 
rect in  what  they  affirm  and  wrong  in  what  they  deny  ; 
and,  curiously  enough,  in  the  union  of  the  affirmations 
of  both  the  full  truth  is  obtained.  "  It  is  written," 
the  one  may  truly  say ;  but  "  it  is  written  again,"  the 
other  may  as  truly  reply ;  and  if  we  are  to  have  a 
13* 


274       THE  INDUCTIVE   STUDY  OF  THE   SCRIPTURES. 

Scriptural  tlieory,  we  must  hold,  by  both,  looking  to 
God  as  if  all  depended  upon  him,  and  at  the  same 
time  exerting  ourselves  as  if  all  depended  upon  us. 

But  to  mention  only  one  illustration  more — let  me 
take  the  practical  subject  of  prayer,  all  the  more 
that,  just  for  the  neglect  of  the  principles  on  which  I 
have  been  insisting,  many  hold  the  most  erroneous 
views  regarding  it.  It  is  written  :  "  Every  one  that 
asketh  receiveth,  and  he  that  seeketh  findeth,  and  to 
him  that  knocketh  it  shall  be  opened."  And  again : 
"  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name  that  will  I  do, 
that  the  Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Son ;  if  ye 
shall  ask  anything  in  my  name  I  will  do  it."  Now 
from  these  and  many  similar  passages  multitudes 
have  inferred  that  by  prayer  they  will  obtain  anything 
which  they  choose  to  seek  from  God,  and  some  of  the 
wildest  statements  have  been  made  by  them  in  this 
matter,  savoring,  as  I  cannot  but  think,  both  of  super- 
stition and  delusion.  For  it  is  written  again :  "  If  ye 
abide  in  me  and  my  words  abide  in  you,  ye  shall  ask 
what  ye  will,  and  it  sliall  be  done  unto  you."  And 
again  :  "  Delight  thyself  also  in  the  Lord,  and  he  shall 
give  thee  the  desires  of  thine  heart."  Moreover,  it 
cannot  be  forgotten  that  when  David  fasted  and  wept 
and  prayed  for  the  life  of  his  child,  he  did  not  obtain 
that  which  he  desired ;  and  when  Paul  besought  tlie 
Lord  that  the  thorn  in  his  flesh  might  depart  from 
him,  he  did  not  get  the  thing  which  he  requested. 
From  all  this,  therefore,  it  is  evident  that  the  univer- 
sal promise  is  to  be  understood  as  qualified  by  some 
indispensable  conditions  which  connect  themselves 
with  the  character  of  the  suppliant,  with  the  nature 
of  the  thing  requested,  and  Avith  the  purpose  and  pre- 
rogative of  God  himself.  If  the  petitioner  be  not 
abiding  in  Christ,  or  if  the  thing  which  he  seeks  be 


THE  INDUCTIVE   STUDY  OF  THE  SCEIPTURES.        275 

sometliiiig  that  will  do  him  real  harm,  or  if  by  refusing 
his  prayer  God  can  train  him  into  something  better 
and  nobler  than  he  would  become  if  his  request  were 
granted,  then  his  desire  will  not  be  given  to  him.  It 
would  be  easy  to  dwell  on  each  of  these  three  condi- 
tions and  show  you  how  much  is  involved  in  each ; 
but  what  I  now  insist  upon  is  that  they  are  conditions 
as  constant  and  as  invariable,  as  in  the  case  of  my 
text,  the  obedience  of  the  command,  "  Thou  slialt  not 
tempt  the  Lord  thy  God,"  is  alleged  to  be  the  condi- 
tion of  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise,  "  He  shall  give 
his  angels  charge  concerning  thee."  But  how  seldom 
all  this  is  taken  note  of  by  many  modern  Christians  ? 
They  seem  to  think  that  the  Lord  exists  simply  and 
only  to  answer  prayer.  They  forget  that  he  is  the 
Father  of  his  people,  and  that  as  such  he  is  discijolin- 
ing  his  children  for  heaven.  They  know,  indeed,  that 
they  train  their  own  children  by  the  manner  in  which 
they  deal  with  their  requests,  but  they  think  God  as 
a  Father  is  to  be  so  indulgent  as  to  grant  them  every- 
thing, without  regard  either  to  his  own  honor  or  to 
their  good ;  and  so  they  are  troubled  about  their  "  un- 
answered prayers."  But  in  reality  there  are  only  two 
prayers  for  which  we  have  an  unconditional  assurance 
that  we  shall  have  a  full  answer.  These  are  :  Father, 
glorify  thy  name,"  and,  "The  will  of  the  Lord  be 
done  " ;  and  as  the  true  believer  who  abides  in  Jesus 
has  these  two  petitions  as  the  under-tone  of  every 
request,  he  always  carries  away  a  blessing.  So  let 
us  not  be  ignorant,  unreasonable  and  unscriptural  in 
our  expectations  when  we  pray,  but  accepting  the 
full  teaching  of  the  Word  of  God  upon  the  subject, 
let  us  make  our  plea  and  leave  ourselves  with  joyful 
trust  in  our  Father's  hand,  full  sure  that  even  the 
denial    of    a    request    may  be    itself    the  means  of 


276        THE   INDUCTIVE   STUDY  OF  THE   SCRIPTURES. 

answering   some    of  the   deepest    yearnings   of    our 
hearts. 

Many  other  illustrations  of  the  application  of  the 
inductive  principle  to  the  investigation  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  might  be  given,  but  these,  must  suffice  for 
the  present.  Let  me  conclude  by  little  more  than 
mentioning  three  important  inferences  which  may  be 
drawn  from  the  course  of  thought  which  we  have 
prosecuted  and  the  remembrance  of  which  may  be 
of  great  service  to  those  who  are  looking  forward  to 
the  ministry  of  the  Gospel. 

In  the  first  place  every  heresy  has  in  it  a  cer- 
tain modicum  of  truth.  The  poet  has  said  that 
"There  is  a  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil,  could 
we  observingly  distill  it  out;"  and  no  one  can 
read  thoughtfully  the  history  of  doctrine  in  the 
Christian  Church  without  discovering  that  even  in 
those  systems  of  error  which  have  from  time  to 
time  made  their  appearance  there  has  been  a  side  of 
truth.  Not  only  so  :  the  error  has  been  formidable  not 
because  of  the  error,  but  because  of  the  truth  that  was 
mixed  up  with  it.  One  can  much  more  easily  deal 
with  that  which  is  wholly  wrong  than  with  that  which 
is  partly  right ;  and  the  great  misfortune  in  controversy 
has  been  that  the  defenders  of  the  faith  have  not  always 
had  the  discrimination  to  distinguish  the  fraction  of 
truth  from  the  error  to  which  it  has  given  vitality,  and 
both  have  been  assailed  together.  Thus,  whether  the 
issue  were  victory  or  defeat,  there  was  sure  to  be  some 
injury  done  to  truth.  Whenever,  therefore,  some  sys- 
tem of  doctrine  becomes  prevalent,  and  you  see  it  to 
be  dangerous  in  its  tendency  yet  attractive  in  its  pres- 
entation, accustom  yourselves  to  ask  first  of  all  con- 
cerning it  what  is  the  portion  of  truth  in  it  that  gives 


THE   INDUCTIVE   STUDY  OP  THE   SCEIPTUBES.        277 

it  feasibility,  and  that  will  at  once  indicate  liow  it  is 
to  be  met. 

Eor,  in  the  second  place,  the  truth  thus  mixed  up 
with  error  is  very  generally  something  that  has  been 
too  largely  overlooked.  That  which  has  been  neglected 
revenges  itself  at  length  by  claiming  more  than  its  due 
share  of  importance.  The  continual  presentation  by 
old  divines  of  the  federal  theology  with  its  clean-cut 
legal  formulae,  provoked  the  assertion  that  the  whole 
virtue  of  the  atonement  was  of  a  moral  sort,  and  that 
there  was  no  reference  to  God's  justice  or  satisfaction 
of  law  whatever  in  it.  So,  again,  the  constant  promi- 
nence given  to  the  deity  of  Christ  and  the  almost  uni- 
versal ignoring  of  his  humanity,  swung  men  off  into 
that  early  Unitarianism  which  made  such  exquisite 
use  of  the  brotherhood  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  And  the 
insistence  by  multitudes  on  the  mechanical  verbal- 
dictation  theory  of  inspiration,  struck  out  of  Coleridge 
those  "Letters  of  an  Inquiring  Spirit"  which  have 
been  the  germ  of  almost  everything  that  has  been 
written  by  the  Broad  School  on  the  subject  since  his 
day. 

Now  if  these  two  general  principles  be  true,  you 
will  see  at  once,  as  a  third  inference  from  our  subject, 
how  error  is  to  be  most  effectually  met.  E-ecognize 
the  portion  of  truth  which  it  contains.  Bring  that 
back  to  its  proper  importance.  Then  supplement  it 
by  putting  it  along  with  those  other  sides  of  the  truth 
which  are  needed  to  give  it  full-balanced  completeness. 
Let  it  be  acknowledged  fully  and  frankly  "  it  is  writ- 
ten," but  then  let  it  be  added  it  is  written  "again." 
Admit  freely  the  reality  of  the  Redeemer's  manhood, 
but  put  with  that  the  genuineness  of  his  deity.  Con- 
cede willingly  the  moral  theory  of  the  atonement  as 
far  as  it  goes ;  but  make  it  clear  that  there  is  more 


278        THE  INDUCTIVE   STUDY   OF  THE  SCKIPTURES. 

than  tliat  in  the  Scripture  statements  on  the  subject, 
and  show  that  the  moral  view  can  have  no  place  un- 
less the  other  be  held  along  with  it :  grant  all  that  is 
required  concerning  the  individuality  of  the  inspired 
writers ;  but  yet  insist  upon  it  that  through  that  indi- 
viduality God  sent  his  message  to  mankind.  Thus 
you  will  kill  error  without  injuring  truth.  Thus,  too, 
you  will  keep  yourselves  from  becoming  narrow-minded 
and  intolerant,  and  will  cultivate  that  spirit  not  more 
truly  philosophic  than  Christian  which  is  open-eyed 
toward  all  truth,  and  welcomes  it  even  when  it  comes, 
apparently,  in  no  good  company. 
January  30,  1881. 


AN  OPEN  DOOE  FOR  LITTLE 
STRENGTH. 

Rev.  iii.  8. — Behold  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door,  and  no 
man  can  shut  it ;  for  thou  hast  a  little  strength  and  hast  kept  my 
word  and  hast  not  denied  my  name. 

"Thou  hast  a  little  strength."  The  words  were 
addressed  to  the  angel  of  the  church  at  Philadelj)hia 
by  the  Lord  Jesus  after  its  members  had  passed, 
with  honor,  through  some  fiery  ordeal,  which  had 
been  designed  by  their  enemies  to  make  them  deny 
his  name.  They  do  not  mean,  as  some  might  be  in- 
clined to  suj)pose,  that  the  persecution  had  been  so 
oppressive  as  wellnigh  to  exhaust  the  church,  so  that 
though  it  had  come  off  with  unstained  loyalty,  it  had 
only  a  little  strength  remaining.  Rather  they  de- 
scribe the  condition  of  the  church  before  the  terrible 
trial  came  upon  it.  From  the  very  beginning  its  ability 
had  been  but  small.  It  had  never  been  what  outsiders 
would  have  called  a  strong  church.  In  numbers,  in 
wealth,  in  rank,  in  influence,  in  every  other  constituent 
which  is  popularly  regarded  as  contributing  to  power 
in  the  world,  it  had  been  always  poor.  Yet  small  as 
its  strength  was,  its  members  had  stood  firm  in  the 
the  face  alike  of  cruel  threatenings  and  alluring 
promises.  And  lo !  as  the  reward  of  their  steadfast- 
ness, the  Lord  declares  that  he  has  set  before  them 
"  an  open  door  "  which  no  man  could  shut.  That  is 
to  say,  through  the  gateway  of  their  fidelity,  feeble  as 
they  were,  they  went  under  the  leadership  of  Christ 


280  AN   OPEN  DOOR   FOR  LITTLE  STRENGTH. 

to  a  sphere  of  usefulness,  whicli  was  peculiarly  and 
pre-eminently  their  own,  and  which  no  mortal  could 
prevent  them  from  filling.  Thus  interpreted,  this 
test  has  been  to  me  full  of  comfort  and  inspiration, 
and  I  desire  to-day  to  make  you  sharers  with  me  in 
the  blessing  it  has  brought  to  me. 

"  Thou  hast  but  little  strength."  How  many  in  all 
our  congregations  may  be  truly  thus  addressed !  They 
are  painfully  conscious  of  their  feebleness,  not  only 
when  they  contrast  themselves  with  those  who  are 
more  favorably  circumstanced,  but  also  when  they 
look  abroad  on  the  work  which  is  yet  to  be  done  for 
Christ  in  the  world.  Sometimes  the  weakness  is 
physical,  and  the  frailness  of  the  body  prevents  the 
man  from  undertaking  that  which,  in  vigorous  health, 
he  would  have  entered  upon  with  joy.  Sometimes  it 
is  intellectual,  and  as  he  thinks  of  the  undeniable 
eminence  in  science  and  philosophy  of  some  of  those 
who  are  arrayed  against  God's  truth,  he  is  almost 
tempted  to  wish  that  he  had  the  ability  to  cope  with 
them  in  argument  and  show  the  fallaciousness  of  their 
reasonings.  Sometimes  it  is  social ;  he  has  little 
wealth,  .and  no  great  standing  in  the  world  ;  it  may  be 
that  he  is  even  in  a  subordinate  place  as  the  servant 
of  another,  and  as  he  desires  to  do  something  for 
Christ,  and  has,  j)erhaps,  the  claims  of  different 
causes  urged  upon  him  from  the  pulpit  or  elsewhere, 
he  is  apt  to  become  despondent  when  he  discovers  that 
he  is  literally  unable,  from  the  necessity  of  his  situa- 
tion, to  do  anything  for  any  one  of  them.  I  believe  that 
cases  of  this  kind  are  commoner  than  multitudes  im- 
agine ;  and  that  there  is  much  secret  sorrow  in  the 
hearts  of  many  humble  followers  of  Christ,  because  in 
one  or  other  of  these  ways  they  are  being  continually 
made  to  feel  that  they  have  only  "  a  Utile  strength." 


AN  OPEN  DOOR  FOR  LITTLE  STRENGTH.     281 

Now,  I  know  few  passages  of  Scripture  more 
admirably  fitted  to  give  encouragement  and  direc- 
tion to  those  who  are  distressed  in  this  way  than 
that  which  is  now  before  us.  For  one  thing  it  sug- 
gests to  us  that  the  having  of  but  little  strength  is  not 
a  matter  of  which  we  need  to  be  ashamed.  The  Lord 
here  does  not  blame  the  Pliiladelj)hians  for  their 
feebleness.  There  is  not  a  single  syllable  of  reproof 
in  this  whole  letter  ;  and  we  must  not  suppose  that 
weakness  is  always  and  of  necessity  wickedness.  If 
one  has  brought  it  upon  himself  by  his  own  iniquity, 
then  it  may  be  a  matter  of  disgrace  ;  but  if  it  come  in 
the  allotment  of  God's  providence,  there  is  no  moral 
reproach  to  be  associated  with  it.  No  doubt  the 
tendency  among  men  is  to  despise  feebleness.  The 
law  of  "  the  survival  of  the  fittest,"  whether  there  be 
much  or  little  in  it  in  natural  science,  is  certainly  not 
unknown  in  human  life,  for  almost  invariably  by 
selfishness  the  weakest  is  driven  to  the  wall.  If  a 
boy  has  some  constitutional  defect,  whether  lameness 
of  foot,  or  obliquity  of  vision,  or  impediment  of 
speech,  it  will  too  often  be  turned  into  ridicule  by  his 
companions ;  and  in  this  matter  I  am  afraid  that 
many  men  may  truly  be  described  as  children  of  a 
larger  growth.  So,  because  in  common  society  weak- 
ness is  too  often  counted  a  reproach  by  men,  the 
feeble  Christian  is  apt  to  think  that  God  will  despise 
him  because  he  has  only  a  little  strength.  But  that  is 
not  the  case.  Look  again  at  this  epistle.  Christ  did  not 
overlook  the  church  of  Philadelphia,  weak  though  it 
was  ;  and  neither  does  he  now  forget  his  feeble  children. 
Is  it  not  written,  "  A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break, 
and  the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not  quench  "  ?  Nay, 
do  we  not  see  in  the  description  of  the  children's 
angels  as  beholding  the  face  of  God,  that  the  care  of 


282  AN   OPEN  DOOR  FOR  LITTLE   STRENGTH. 

tlie  least  is  tlie  special  cliarge  of  the  highest  ?  Lack 
of  strength,  therefore,  so  far  from  making  us  the  ob- 
jects of  the  Divine  contempt,  only  gives  us  a  new 
claim  upon  his  assistance.  Whoever  may  upbraid  us 
■with  our  weakness,  we  may  be  sure  that  Jesus  never 
will ;  and  if  he  do  not  condemn  us  for  it,  why  should 
we  be  ashamed  of  it  in  the  sight  of  men  ?  He  giveth 
power  to  the  faint  and  to  them  that  have  no  might 
he  increaseth  strength. 

But  more  than  this,  when  we  take  this  letter  and  read 
it  in  connection  with  the  others  which  have  been  framed 
and  hung  up  here  for  our  perusal  in  the  porch  of  the 
book  of  Revelation,  there  is  suggested  to  us  the  truth 
that  the  having  of  but  a  little  strength  may  even  come 
to  be,  in  some  resjDects,  an  advantage.  For  it  is  not 
a  little  remarkable  that  the  two  churches  which 
received  unqualified  commendation  are  those  of 
Smyrna  and  Philadelphia,  neither  of  which  was  strong 
in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term ;  while  on  the  other 
hand  the  severest  reproof  is  addressed  to  the  church 
of  Laodicea,  which  any  outsider  would  have  spoken 
of  as  at  once  prosperous  and  influential.  Thus  we  are 
reminded  that  where  there  is  much  strength  there  is 
also  a  disposition  to  trust  in  that ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  where  there  is  conscious  feebleness  there  is  felt 
also  the  necessity  of  making  application  for  the  might 
of  the  Most  High.  That  was  the  secret  of  Paul's 
paradox,  "  "When  I  am  weak,  then  am  I  strong ;  "  and 
there  are  many  among  us  who  feel  that  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  blessing  of  God  imparted  to  them 
through  physical  affliction,  or  pecuniary  straits,  they 
might,  and  in  all  probability  would,  have  grown 
proud  and  defiant,  and  thus  might  have  cut  them- 
selves off  from  the  grace  of  God.  So  let  the  weak 
be    reconciled    to    his  weakness,  and    accept   it  as 


AN   OPEN  DOOE  FOB  LITTLE   STRENGTH.  283 

being  tlie  will  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  concerning 
liim. 

But  pursuing  this  line  of  thought  a  little  farther  we 
may  see  from  my  text  that  the  having  of  only  a  little 
strength  does  not  utterly  disqualify  us  from  serving 
the  Lord.  Feeble  as  they  were,  the  Philadelphians 
had  kept  Christ's  word  and  had  not  denied  his  name. 
They  glorified  him  where  they  were,  and  in  the  man- 
ner appropriate  to  their  circumstances.  They  kept 
their  loyalty  to  him  even  in  their  weakness.  And  it 
is  possible  for  every  one  of  us  to  do  the  same.  If 
God  has  given  us  only  one  talent,  he  does  not  hold  us 
responsible  for  five.  If  my  strength  is  small  he  does 
not  require  of  me  that  which  only  a  larger  measure  of 
power  could  enable  me  to  perform.  Wherever  I  am, 
it  is  enough  if  there  I  keep  his  word ;  and  however 
limited  be  my  resources,  he  asks  no  more  than  that  I 
use  all  these  resources  in  advancing  the  honor  of  his 
name.  He  is  no  hard  master,  reaping  where  he  has 
not  sown,  and  gathering  where  he  has  not  strewn.  If 
he  has  not  given  me  wealth,  he  asks  only  that  I  con- 
secrate my  poverty  to  him.  If  he  has  not  bestowed 
upon  me  commanding  intellectual  abilities,  he  seeks 
only  that  I  use  those  which  I  possess  in  serving  him  ; 
and  if  "  obstacles  and  trials  seem  like  prison  walls  to 
be,"  he  requires  only  that  I  do  the  little  that  I  can, 
and  leave  the  rest  to  him.  Nay,  if  there  is  nothing 
active  that  I  can  undertake,  it  will  be  sufficient  if  I 
resist  all  temptations  to  let  go  his  word  and  to  deny 
his  name.  From  this  none  of  us  can  excuse  himself, 
and  every  one  who  earnestly  sets  himself  to  act  after 
this  fashion  may  rely  upon  the  assurance,  "  My  grace 
is  sufficient  for  thee  ;  my  strength  is  made  perfect  in 
weakness." 

Still  further,  if  we  proceed  upon  this  principle,  my 


284     AN  OPEN  DOOR  FOR  LITTLE  STRENGTH. 

text  affirms  that  a  wider  spliere  will  be  ultimately 
opened  up  to  us.  Look  at  it  again  :  "  I  have  set  be- 
fore thee  an  open  door,  for  thou  hast  but  little  strength 
and  hast  kept  my  word,  and  hast  not  denied  my  name." 
Fidelity  is  rewarded  by  greater  opportunity.  "  He  that 
is  faithful  in  that  which  is  least "  is  promoted  to  that 
which  is  greater,  and  has  given  to  him  a  loftier  posi- 
tion and  a  wider  range.  The  man  who  is  always  mur- 
muring over  the  limits  of  his  lot  will  never  do 
anything  in  the  world.  He  whose  pride  is  wounded 
because  he  has  received  only  one  talent  will  be  sure 
to  bury  that  one  in  the  earth.  But  if  he  wall  only  use 
his  little  all  to  purpose,  laying  it  out  to  usury  with 
faithfulness,  earnestness,  and  prayer,  he  will  find  at 
length  his  opportunities  doubled.  Thus  it  is  always 
that  men  have  risen,  alike  in  the  church  and  in  the 
world,  to  the  thrones  of  their  individual  power.  From 
those  who  have  not,  even  that  which  they  have  is  sure 
to  be  taken  away ;  but  they  who  have  begun  by  doing 
their  little  faithfully  have  risen  through  that  into 
something  nobler,  and  through  that  again  to  some- 
thing higher,  until  at  length  they  have  reached  a 
position  which  at  first  seemed  quite  beyond  the  pos- 
sibility of  their  attainment.  They  have  had  set  before 
them  an  open  door,  which  none  has  been  able  to  shut. 
Fidelity  always  rises.  It  is,  in  fact,  irrepressible  ;  for 
when  Christ  says  to  it,  "  Come  up  higher,"  no  one  can 
hold  it  down. 

Such,  as  it  seems  to  me,  are  the  main  teachings  of 
this  suggestive  verse,  and  if  I  have  been  right  in  thus 
interpreting  it,  one  or  two  inferences  of  a  wholesome 
sort  will  follow. 

I.  In  the  first  place  we  may  learn  that  usefulness  is 
not  the  primary  object  of  the  Christian's  attention.     I 


AN  OPEN  DOOR  FOE  LITTLE  STRENGTH.     285 

would  not  be  understood,  indeed,  as  seeking  in  any 
way  to  discourage  those  whose  desire  it  is  to  benefit 
their  fellow  men  by  leading  them  to  the  Lord  Jesus. 
It  is  right  to  aim  after  the  welfare  of  those  who  are 
still  ignorant  and  out  of  the  way.  But  I  am  persuaded 
that  many  among  us  fail  in  securing  that  because  we 
do  not  seek  it  in  the  right  manner.  We  are  apt  to 
make  it  a  primary  and  immediate  end  in  and  of  itself, 
and  to  forget  that  the  first  thing  Christ  sets  us  to  do 
is  to  be  faithful  where  we  are,  by  keeping  his  word 
and  confessing  his  name.  Usefulness  is  the  result  of 
character,  and  therefore  character  ought  to  have  our 
earliest  care.  Not  what  we  can  do  for  others,  but 
rather  what  we  are  in  ourselves,  demands  our  first 
attention,  for  to  do  good  to  others  we  must  first  be 
good  ourselves.  Usefulness  is  to  character  what 
fragrance  is  to  the  flower.  But  the  gardener  does  not 
make  the  fragrance  his  first  or  greatest  aim.  Nay, 
rather  his  grand  design  is  to  produce  a  perfect  flower, 
for  he  knows  if  he  succeed  in  that  the  fragrance  will 
come  of  itself.  In  the  same  way  the  Christian's  first 
concern  should  bo  with  his  own  character.  His  prime 
ambition  ought  to  be,  where  he  is,  to  keep  Christ's 
word  and  to  confess  his  name  ;  and  when  he  has 
succeeded  in  that,  the  door  to  legitimate  and  lasting 
usefulness  will  open  to  him  of  itself,  or,  rather, 
Christ  will  open  it  for  him  and  no  man  will  be  able 
to  shut  it. 

The  first  results  of  our  Christianity  are  to  be  looked 
for  not  in  the  effects  of  our  work  upon  others,  but  in 
the  development  of  holiness  in  ourselves  ;  and  when 
our  characters  are  thus  Christianized  we  shall  find 
through  them  a  short  and  easy  way  to  usefulness,  for 
indeed  the  effluence  of  them  will  be  the  finest  means 
of  telling  upon  others.     Hence  I  cannot  but  regard  it 


286  AN   OPEN  DOOK  FOE  LITTLE   STRENGTH. 

as  unfortunate  and  indeed  unnatural  when  young  con- 
verts wlio  have  only  just  found  their  way  to  Christ, 
are  encouraged  forthwith  to  begin  to  labor  among 
others.  They  may  be  instrumental  in  doing  some- 
thing, but  in  that  way  they  will  never  attain  to  any- 
thing like  the  highest  usefulness.  Their  first  duty  is 
in  the  sphere  in  Avhich  Christ  found  them,  to  keep  his 
word  and  to  confess  his  name.  Their  first  care  ought 
to  be  for  the  manifestation  of  the  Christian  character 
in  the  lowly  and  limited  place  to  which  they  origin- 
ally belonged,  and  through  their  faithfulness  in  that 
the  Lord  will  open  up  for  them  a  door  to  something 
higher.  To  be  holy  is  our  primary  duty,  and  through 
that  we  pass  to  usefulness.  If,  therefore,  there  be 
those  before  me  who  are  eager  for  the  crown  that  is 
to  be  won  by  turning  many  to  righteousness,  let  me 
urge  them  not  to  go  after  that  in  the  wrong  way.  The 
shortest  path  to  it  is  not  that  which  seeks  it  directly, 
but  that  which  lies  through  faithful  holiness  in  the 
discharge  of  duty  or  the  endurance  of  trial  where  you 
are.  Nor  let  any  one  be  discouraged  if  by  reason  of  the 
pressure  of  immediate  obligations,  or  the  circumscrib- 
ing influence  of  weakness  or  of  suffering,  he  may  seem 
to  be  shut  out  from  doing  anything  for  others.  That 
which  he  has  to  look  to  for  the  moment  is  the  cultiva- 
tion of  holiness  within  the  limits  of  his  providential 
surroundings,  and  it  is  only  through  the  keeping  of 
Christ's  word  by  himself  there,  that  he  is  to  expect 
the  opening  of  a  door  into  wider  work  among  others. 
Everything  in  its  own  order,  and  here  the  order  is, 
first,  cultivation  of  personal  holiness,  and  then  the 
attainment  of  a  sphere  of  usefulness. 

II.  But  if  these  things  are  so,  we  have  as,  another 
inference  suggested  from  this  text,  an  easy  explana- 


AN   OPEN   DOOE  FOR  LITTLE   STEENGTH.  287 

tion  of  tlie  great  usefulness  of  many  who  are  in  no 
wise  noteworthy  for  strength.  Few  things  are  more 
commonly  spoken  of  among  men  than  the  fact  that 
the  most  successful  soul-winners  in  the  ministry  are 
not  always  those  who  are  most  conspicuous  for  intel- 
lectual ability  or  argumentative  power.  If  you  take 
up  the  sermons,  for  example,  of  John  "Wesley  or  of 
George  "Whitefield,  you  will  find  it  hard  to  believe 
that  such  effects  as  we  read  of  in  the  records  of  the 
period  were  produced  by  them.  In  point  of  mental 
power  and  suggestiveness  they  are  not  for  a  moment 
to  be  put  into  comparison  with  those  of  many  other 
men  who  had  apparently  scarcely  any  success  ;  and  if 
we  look  at  the  sermons  alone,  there  is  no  explanation 
of  their  results  to  be  found  in  them.  But  no  printing- 
press  can  reproduce  the  preacher  ;  and  the  secret  of 
the  power  in  all  such  cases  was  in  the  men.  Their 
greatness  was  their  goodness.  Their  holy  char- 
acters, formed  and  molded  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  ex- 
haled through  their  discourses,  and  these  gave  them 
their  usefulness.  In  the  same  way  you  will  some- 
times find  a  church  whose  members  are  poor  in  this 
world's  goods,  and  not  remarkable  for  that  culture 
which  modern  circles  have  so  largely  deified,  yet 
famous  for  its  good  works  among  the  masses,  and 
foremost  in  the  successes  which  it  has  achieved  in 
evangelistic  work  ;  and  when  you  look  into  the  matter 
you  find  the  explanation  in  the  consecrated  characters 
and  lives  of  those  who  are  associated  in  its  felloAV- 
ship.  They  have  sought  their  usefulness  through 
their  holiness,  and  not  their  holiness  through  their 
usefulness ;  and  therefore  it  is  they  have  had  such 
signal  triumphs.  On  the  other  hand,  when  we  see 
churches  great  in  numbers,  wealthy  in  resources,  and 
fully  equipped  with  all  the  machinery  required  for 


288      AN  OPEN  DOOR  FOR  LITTLE  STRENGTH. 

home  missionarj  work,  yet  mourning  over  their  lack 
of  success  in  its  prosecution,  my  text  suggests  a  pos- 
sible explanation  of  the  anomaly.  Their  communion 
rolls,  perhaps,  are  burdened  with  those  who  are  not 
distinguished  for  holiness,  and  who  have  a  name  that 
they  live  while  they  are  dead.  Their  members,  it  may 
be,  are  lacking  in  consecration ;  they  are  not  thorough- 
going in  the  maintenance  of  the  principles  of  the  gos- 
pel in  their  daily  lives,  they  are  unfaithful  to  their 
profession  in  their  conduct,  and  so  Christ  has  shut 
the  door  in  the  face  of  their  church,  and  no  man  can 
open  it.  "When  we  are  unsuccessful  in  work  for  others, 
let  us  see  whether  it  be  not  because  we  are  some- 
where unfaithful  in  our  motives.  Israel  could  not 
take  Ai  when  Achan  with  his  hidden  wickedness  was 
in  the  camp  ;  and  who  can  tell  how  sorely  our  churches 
are  crippled  in  their  work,  and  how  largely  their  ex- 
ertions are  neutralized  by  the  inconsistencies  of  those 
who  are  nominally  connected  with  them.  When  doors 
are  closed  against  us  it  is  time  to  inquire  whether  it 
be  not  true  that  we  have  not  been  keeping  the 
Lord's  word,  and  have  been  denying  his  name. 
Unfaithfulness  shuts  us  out  of  opportunity.  A  man 
is  useless  because  he  has  been  heedless  of  the  Word  ; 
a  church  is  useless  because  it  has  denied  Christ's 
name.  The  thought  is  full  of  solemnity  alike  for 
minister  and  people,  and  if  it  should  be  that  we  are 
mourning  over  our  comparative  failure  in  telling  on 
the  outlying  world,  let  us  search  and  see  lest  the 
cause  of  our  lack  of  success  be  not  in  our  denial  some- 
where of  the  Lord  that  bought  us.  Nor  let  us  forget 
that  the  noblest  contribution  we  can  give  to  the 
work  of  the  church  is  our  own  personal  holiness,  for 
without  that  no  money  offering  can  be  fully  blessed, 
and  yet,  even  if  we  be  poor  in  this  world's  goods,  that 


AN  OPEN  DOOK  FOE  LITTLE   STKENGTH,  289 

is  a  gift  which  we  may  always  lay  upon  Christ's  altar 
if  we  will. 

III.  Finally,  if  the  principles  which  I  have  tried  to 
deduce  from  this  text  are  true,  we  see  at  once  how  such 
apparently  opposite  things  as  Christian  contentment 
and  Christian  ambition  are  to  be  perfectly  harmonized. 
The  full  discharge  of  duty  on  the  lower  level  opens 
the  passage  up  into  the  higher.  We  see  that  illus- 
trated in  secular  departments,  if  I  may  call  them  so, 
every  day.  If  the  school-boy  wishes  to  gain  a  high 
and  honorable  position  as  a  man,  he  must  be  content, 
so  long  as  he  is  at  school,  to  go  through  its  daily 
round,  and  perform  in  the  best  possible  manner  its 
common  duties.  The  better  he  is  as  a  scholar,  the 
more  surely  will  the  door  into  eminence  open  for  him 
as  a  man.  But  if  he  trifle  away  his  time,  if  he  neg- 
lect his  work,  if  he  despise  what  he  calls  the  "  drudge- 
ry" of  education,  and  so  leave  school  without  hav- 
ing learned  those  things  which  he  was  sent  thither  to 
to  acquire,  then  there  will  be  nothing  for  him  in  after 
days  but  humiliation  and  failure.  Doors  enow  may 
open  to  him,  but  he  will  never  be  ready  to  enter  one 
of  them,  and  will  be  to  the  last,  unless  he  go  back  and 
make  up  for  what  he  has  lost,  a  useless  hanger-on  to 
the  skirts  of  society.  In  the  same  way  if  a  servant 
would  seek  to  be  a  master,  the  shortest  way  to  that 
end  is  for  him  to  accept  his  present  lot  and  be  in  it 
the  very  best  of  servants.  He  who  is  always  schem- 
ing for  a  sudden  elevation,  as  if  he  would  vault  at  one 
leap  into  the  chair  of  his  ambition,  never  reaches  it 
in  that  way ;  or  if  he  do,  he  cannot  keep  in  it.  But 
the  wise  plan  is  to  be  content  for  the  time  with  the 
place  we  have,  and  show  the  highest  excellence  in  fill- 
ing that ;  for  in  the  long  run  the  door  always  opens 
13 


290  AN   OPEN  DOOR  FOR  LITTLE  STRENGTH. 

before  character.  The  "  candidating  minister  "  wlio 
is  forever  gadding  about  among  vacant  churches 
seeking  a  suitable  sphere,  until  at  length  he  becomes 
known  as  the  "  solicitor-general,"  never  gets  one  to 
his  mind.  But  the  man  who  is  conspicuously  diligent 
■where  he  is,  and  is  doing  there  his  utmost  for  the 
honor  of  the  Lord,  will  be  sought  for  by  others  with- 
out any  agency  of  his  own,  and  will  receive  the  recog- 
nition of  the  Master  in  a  nobler  opportunity. 

Now  it  is  not  otherwise  in  every  other  department. 
The  first  thing  we  have  to  do,  if  we  w^ould  pass  from  a 
lower  to  a  higher  post  of  usefulness,  is  to  adapt  our- 
selves thoroughly  to  our  present  sphere,  and  set  our- 
selves diligently  to  perform  its  duties.  If  we  are  con- 
scious of  its  limitations  then  let  us  not  rebel  against 
them,  but  accej)t  them  and  make  the  best  possible 
work  within  them.  Then  when  we  have  turned  our 
little  strength  to  good  account,  we  shall  find  the  door 
opened  to  us  by  the  Master's  hand.  Contentment 
with  the  present  thus,  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  is 
the  surest  means  of  securing  in  the  future  that  on 
which,  as  Christians,  we  are  taught  to  set  our  desires. 
Fretting  over  our  weakness  will  not  make  things  bet- 
ter, but  it  will  prevent  us  from  bringing  anything  out 
of  the  little  strength  we  have.  He  who  is  constantly 
com23laining  that  he  has  no  more,  makes  little  or  no 
use  of  that  which  he  has  ;  whereas  the  man  who  is 
reconciled  for  the  moment  to  his  position  and  delib- 
erately seeks  to  serve  God  in  the  best  way  there,  is 
already  in  the  sure  and  safe  way  to  promotion.  This 
is  a  most  important  consideration,  for  it  brings  all  the 
hopes  of  the  future  and  focuses  them  on  the  duties  of 
the  present,  making  the  commendation  of  the  Judge  at 
last  dejDend  upon  even  so  small  a  thing  as  the  giving 
of  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  a  disciple  in  his  name,  or 


AN   OPEN  DOOE  FOR  LITTLE  STRENGTH.  291 

tlie  visiting  for  his  sake  of  one  of  his  imprisoned 
brethren. 

Here,  then,  is  comfort  as  well  as  direction  for  the 
weak.  Present  fidelity  is  the  door  through  which 
we  pass  to  future  eminence.  The  disciple  of  the 
Lord  is  content  with  the  sphere  in  which  he  is 
placed  ;  but  he  seeks  to  fill  that  thoroughly,  in  order 
that  he  may  rise  the  sooner  to  something  better. 
Nor  does  he  seek  in  vain,  for  the  Lord  does  not  over- 
look the  faithfulness  of  the  feeble,  but  opens  for  them 
a  door  of  opportunity  which  all  the  sticklers  for 
ecclesiastical  propriety,  and  all  the  votaries  of  intel- 
lectul  culture,  and  all  the  influences  of  fashionable 
society  will  not  be  able  to  shut.  And  then  when  the 
best  use  has  been  made  of  earth's  opportunities, 
when  he  has  employed  to  the  utmost  in  the  Master's 
service  and  the  service  of  his  generation  that  strength 
which  even  at  its  best  in  this  life  is  but  small,  the 
Lord  will  open  for  him  the  door  of  heaven,  saying, 
"  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant ;  thou  hast 
been  faithful  over  a  few  things  ;  I  will  make  thee  ruler 
over  many  things ;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy 
Lord." 

October  31,  1880. 


THE   SOEEOWFUL  "IF." 

John  xi.  21  and  33.  Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother 
had  not  died. 

EvEEY  reader  of  tlie  Gospels  is  perfectly  familiar 
even  witli  the  minutest  details  of  this  most  interesting 
chapter.  For  that  reason,  therefore,  and  also  because 
the  most  important  points  in  it  will  come  incidentally 
up  as  we  follow  the  line  of  thought  which  I  have 
marked  out  for  this  discourse,  I  shall  not  attempt  to 
give  you  any  summary  of  the  narrative  by  way  of  in- 
troduction, but  proceed  at  once  to  indicate  and  illus- 
trate the  practical  and  experimental  truths  which  it 
suggests. 

I.  Notice,  then,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  friends  of 
Jesus  are  not  exempted  from  affliction  in  the  world. 
If  such  immunity  might  have  been  expected  in  any 
case,  it  surely  would  have  been  in  that  of  the  members 
of  the  Bethany  family  who  so  often  received  and  en- 
tertained the  Lord.  The  household  consisted  of  three 
members — a  brother  and  two  sisters — to  each  of 
whom  Christ  was  bound  by  ties  of  human  friendship, 
as  well  as  of  spiritual  fellowship.  He  was,  in  fact, 
almost  like  another  brother  in  the  family,  one  to 
whom  they  were  all  most  tenderly  attached,  and  who 
loved  them  very  specially  in  retiirn.  Their  house  was 
one  of  the  few  places — perhaps  the  only  place — on 
earth  in  which  he  was  perfectly  at  home.  Thither  he 
often  went  after  a  weary  day  of  labor  and  debate  with 


THE   SOEEOWFUL   "  IF."  293 

the  Jews  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  or  in  the  courts 
of  the  temple,  and  there  he  always  found  congenial 
companionship  unshadowed  by  the  presence  of  ene- 
mies who  were  watching  to  entangle  him  in  his  talk. 
No  painful  association  connects  itself  with  Bethany. 
We  cannot  think  of  Bethlehem  without  remembering 
the  massacre  of  the  infants ;  of  Nazareth  without  re- 
calling the  rejection  of  the  Saviour  by  the  men  of  the 
city  in  which  "  he  had  been  brought  up  ; "  of  Caper- 
naum, without  recollecting  the  woe  which  its  inhab- 
itants drew  down  upon  their  heads ;  of  Jerusalem, 
without  having  brought  to  mind  the  sad  scene  of  the 
crucifixion ;  but  Bethany  is  linked  only  to  memories 
of  blessedness,  and  the  home  of  Lazarus  stands  out 
from  among  the  scenes  of  the  gospel  history  with  a 
sacredness  that  is  peculiar  to  itself;  for  there  the 
Lord  Jesus  was  honored  and  beloved.  Yet,  dear  a^ 
Christ  was  to  its  inmates,  and  tenderly  as  they  were 
regarded  by  him,  they  were  not  on  that  account 
exempt  from  affliction ;  for  here  we  have  these  state- 
ments in  the  closest  23roximity.  "Now  Jesus  loved 
Martha  and  her  sister  and  Lazarus;  "  and  again  :  "A 
certain  man  was  sick,  named  Lazarus,  of  Bethany,  the 
town  of  Mary,  and  her  sister  Martha." 

This  suggests  the  question,  why  affliction  is  sent  upon 
those  who  are  the  friends  of  God  ?  It  is  the  old  problem 
which  Job  and  his  three  visitors  debated,  and  which, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  frequent  prosperity  of 
the  wicked,  perplexed  the  souls  of  the  authors  of  the 
37th  and  73d  psalms ;  and  though  the  full  materials 
for  its  solution  are  not  furnished  to  us  anywhere,  we 
may  yet  find  some  light  cast  upon  it  by  this  and  other 
portions  of  tlie  word  of  God.  For  we  may  conclude  that 
such  trial  is  not  necessarily  the  result  of  any  special  sin. 
Even  in  regard  to  those  who  had  no  such  tender  rela- 


294  THE   SORROWFUL   "  IF." 

tionsliip  to  himself,  the  Saviour  warned  his  disciples 
against  drawing  the  inference  that  particular  suffering 
is  always  the  consequence  of  some  particular  wicked- 
ness, and  in  a  case  like  that  of  Lazarus  and  his  sisters, 
it  is  clear  that  all  such  reasoning  would  be  unwar- 
ranted. Nay,  more,  in  affirming,  as  he  did  in  answer 
to  the  application  of  the  sisters,  that  "  This  sickness 
is  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  the  Son  of  God  might 
be  glorified  thereby,"  he  laid  down  a  general  principle 
which  may  guide  us  in  all  similar  instances.  The 
great  design  of  God  in  the  affliction  of  his  people  is 
to  show  the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace,  and  thus  to 
commend  himself  to  them  as  the  strength  of  their 
hearts  and  their  portion  forever.  And  if  it  be  asked 
in  what  respects  his  glory  is  thus  advanced  through 
the  trial  of  his  own,  different  answers  must  be  given 
to  the  question.  It  may  be  so  in  the  development  of 
the  character  of  the  afflicted  one  himself;  for  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  spiritual  growth  is  often  promoted  by 
such  discipline.  Hezekiah  is  not  the  only  one  who 
has  felt  and  said  that  "By  these  things  men  live." 
Luther  numbered  trials  as  among  his  best  instruct- 
ors ;  and  the  Psalmist  records  the  experience  of 
multitudes  when  he  says  :  "  It  is  good  for  me  that  I 
have  been  afflicted."  Again  the  afflictions  of  God's 
people  may  redound  to  his  glory  in  their  effect  upon 
others,  either  as  silencing  the  gainsayer,  or  as  convert- 
ing the  careless,  or  as  educating  the  weak  believer  into 
stronger  faith.  The  calamities  of  Job  came  on  him  to 
prove  the  utter  falseness  of  the  assertion  made  by 
Satan,  that  the  truly  godly  man  is  moved  only  by 
utilitarian  considerations,  and  serves  the  Lord  simply 
for  what  he  can  make  thereby  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  even  in  our  own  days  many  Christians  have  been 
sorely  afflicted,  just  to  show  to  the  scoffing  creAV  by 


THE   SOREOWTUL   "iF."  295 

whom  tliey  were  surrounded  how  sure  and  abiding 
their  confidence  was,  and  how  lovingly  God  could 
sustain  them  in  the  deepest  distress.  Sometimes, 
again,  through  the  sufferings  of  a  believing  friend  the 
indifferent  have  been  awakened  and  led  to  the  Lord. 
The  affliction  of  a  parent  has  been,  as  we  express  it, 
"  sanctified  "  to  a  son  or  a  daughter ;  and  the  illness  of 
a  companion,  borne  with  Christian  submission,  has  led 
many  a  man  to  Christ;  while,  again,  a  weak  believer 
has  often  been  strengthened  by  the  sight  of  the  calm 
bearing  and  simple  trustfulness  of  a  dear  one  on  whom 
God's  hand  has  been  laid.  Christ  said  to  his  followers 
in  this  very  case :  "  I  am  glad,  for  your  sakes,  that  I 
was  not  there,  to  the  intent  ye  may  believe."  We  have 
all  known  such  instances,  and  when  we  think  it  through 
we  come  to  see  that  vicarious  suffering  is  not  confined 
to  Christ.  In  the  highest  sacrificial  sense  of  the  words, 
indeed,  we  must  say  that  no  one  ever  suffered  for  others 
as  He  did  ;  but  in  a  lower  sense  it  is  true  that  believers 
often  do  suffer  for  others  ;  and  when  their  benefit  is  se- 
cured thereby,  the  afflicted  ones  discover  that  their  sick- 
ness has  really  been  for  the  glory  of  God,  so  that  they 
enter  in  a  very  real  way  into  "  the  fellowship  of  the  Sav- 
iour's sufferings."  I  think  if  this  view  were  more  fre- 
quently taken,  affliction  would  not  so  often  lead  the  suf- 
ferer to  morbid  introspection,  as  if  God  was  somehow 
offended  with  him  and  it  was  essential  that  he  should 
search  in  himself  for  some  reason  for  his  trial ;  while, 
again,  it  would  sustain  him  under  his  visitation  with 
\;he  hope  that  others  might  be  benefited  through  his 
tribulation.  If  Lazarus  or  his  sisters  could  have 
foreseen  all  that  was  to  result  from  the  trial  to  which 
they  were  subjected,  they  would  have  been  thoroughly 
upheld  thereby  ;  and  their  history  is  written  here  from 
first  to  last,  Just  to  give  us  a  revelation  of  the  possi- 


296  THE   SORROWFUL   "iF." 

bilities  that  may  spring  out  of  our  sorrows.  These 
considerations  may  not,  perhaps,  quite  solve  the  prob- 
lem why  the  friends  of  Jesus  are  afflicted,  but  they 
do  most  undoubtedly  lessen  the  mystery,  and  they 
may  serve  to  put  a  staff  into  our  hands  when  God 
shall  cause  us  to  walk  through  the  valley  of  shadow. 
In  any  case  the  narrative  on  which  now  I  am  com- 
menting, ought  to  keep  us  from  rashly  concluding 
that  because  we  are  afflicted  we  cannot  be  the  objects 
of  the  love  of  God.  When  the  teacher  desires  to  dem- 
onstrate his  own  excellence  as  an  instructor  he  takes 
his  ripest  scholar  and  subjects  him  to  the  sorest  ex- 
amination, not  because  he  is  suspicious  of  his  attain- 
ments, but  just  because  he  knows  that  they  are  so 
thorough  :  so  sometimes  I  think  the  Lord  exposes  his 
dearest  people  to  fiery  trials,  not  because  he  would 
expose  their  weakness,  but  because  he  knows  their 
strength,  and  would  thereby  commend  that  grace  by 
which  they  stand  to  the  acceptance  of  their  fellow  men. 
If  he  had  not  been  so  sure  of  Mary  and  Martha  they 
might  have  been  sjDared,  at  this  time,  the  affliction 
which  befell  them  ;  but  it  came  on  them  that,  through 
them,  untold  multitudes  might  be  blessed.  This  may 
be  a  view  of  the  matter  that  is  strange  to  some  of  you, 
but  I  am  sure  it  is  a  right  view,  and  I  have  dwelt 
upon  it  now  because  of  the  consolation  which  it 
yields. 

II.  But  notice  now,  in  the  second  place,  that  the 
friends  of  Jesus  in  their  affliction  turn  directly  and 
immediately  to  him.  So  soon  as  Martha  and  Mary 
awoke  to  the  seriousness  of  their  brother's  illness, 
they  sent  unto  Christ  a  messenger  to  say  :  "  Lord,  he 
whom  thou  lovest  is  sick."  They  believed  that  he 
was  "  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  that  should  come 


THE   SOEEOWFUL   "  IF."  297 

into  the  ■world,"  and  tliey  made  instant  application 
unto  liim  in  that  capacity.  They  knew  his  power ; 
they  cherished  fondly  the  remembrance  of  their  happy 
fellowship  with  him,  and  they  trusted  implicitly  in 
his  grace — so  implicitly,  indeed,  that  they  made  no 
definite  request,  but  contented  themselves  with  the 
simple  announcement  of  their  brother's  distress,  be- 
lieving that  no  more  was  needed  to  bring  the  Lord 
Jesus  to  their  side.  Yet  even  in  making  this  intima- 
tion, their  confidence  was  not  in  anything  about  them- 
selves or  Lazarus,  but  simply  in  himself.  They  did 
not  say,  "  He  who  loves  thee,"  but  rather,  "  He  whom 
thou  lovest."  It  was  an  appeal  to  his  own  heart,  all 
the  more  eloquent  because  it  left  the  manner  of  the 
response  entirely  to  himself,  and  made  no  suggestion 
as  to  how  he  should  relieve  them.  It  was  enough  for 
them  to  make  sure  that  he  simply  knew  their  need. 
Just  as  the  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist,  when  they 
had  lost  their  master  by  the  cruel  deed  of  Herod, 
"  went  and  told  Jesus,"  so  these  sisters  in  their  hour 
of  extremity  sent  straight  to  the  Lord.  Now  here  is 
an  example  for  us,  for,  though  Jesus  is  no  longer  upon 
the  earth,  we  may  repair  to  him  in  all  our  time  of 
trouble  ;  nay,  just  because  he  is  no  longer  on  the  earth, 
we  may  get  to  him  more  easily  than  these  sorrowing 
sisters  did ;  for  their  messenger  had  to  go  away 
across  the  Jordan  to  Bethabara  before  they  could 
reach  him,  but  now  we  can  breathe  a  prayer  into  his 
ear  at  any  time  and  in  any  place,  with  the  full  assur- 
ance that  he  hears  our  request. 

Nor  have  we  here  only  an  example,  for  we  may 
make  of  the  conduct  of  the  Bethany  sisters  a  test 
wherewith  to  try  ourselves.  To  whom  do  we  go  first 
in  the  time  of  our  extremity?  What  is  our  resource 
in  the  day  of  trouble  ?  To  what  refuge  do  we  run  when 
13* 


298  THE  SOKROWFUL  "IF." 

calamity  is  overtaking  us  ?  Can  we  say  with  David, 
"From  the  end  of  the  earth  will  I  cry  unto  thee  when 
my  heart  is  overwhelmed?  "  or  do  we  betake  ourselves 
to  some  other  helper  ?  The  answer  to  these  questions 
will  determine  whether  we  are  the  friends  of  Jesus  or 
not.  To  take  an  illustration  which  I  have  used  else- 
where :  "  Traveling  once  upon  a  railroad  car,  I  had 
among  my  fellow  passengers  a  little  laughing  child 
who  romped  about  and  was  at  home  with  everybody, 
and  while  she  was  frolicking  around  it  might  have  been 
difficult  to  tell  to  whom  she  belonged,  she  seemed  so 
much  the  jDroperty  of  every  one  ;  but  when  the  engine 
gave  a  loud,  long  shriek,  and  we  went  rattling  into  a 
dark  tunnel,  the  little  one  made  one  bound  and  ran  to 
nestle  in  a  lady's  lap.  I  knew  then  who  was  her 
mother !  "  *  So  in  the  day  of  prosperity  it  may  be 
occasionally  difficult  to  say  whether  a  man  is  a  Chris- 
tian or  not ;  but  when,  in  time  of  trouble,  he  makes 
straight  for  Christ,  we  know  then  most  surely  whose 
he  is  and  whom  he  serves.  Take  a  note  of  it,  then, 
and  when  affliction  comes,  observe  to  whom  you  flee 
for  succor — for  that  will  tell  you  whether  you  are  or 
are  not  a  friend  of  Jesus. 

III.  Notice,  now,  in  the  third  place,  that  the  re- 
sponse of  the  Lord  comes  often  in  such  a  way  as 
seems  to  aggravate  the  evil.  Instead  of  hastening  at 
once  to  Bethany,  the  Saviour  sent  for  answer  these 
words  :  "  This  sickness  is  not  unto  death,  but  for  the 
glory  of  God,  that  the  Son  of  God  might  be  glorified 
thereby ;"  and  deliberately  remained  where  he  was 
for  two  days,  so  that  when  the  messenger  returned, 
Lazarus  was  dead.  How  strange  it  all  seems,  and  how 
bewildered  the  sisters  must  have  been  !     First  of  all, 

*  David,  King  of  Israel,  p.  145. 


THE   SORROWFUL   "iT."  299 

the  Master  did  not  come,  and  therefore  it  looked  as  if 
lie  did  not  heed  their  distress.  Then  their  brother 
died,  though  they  might  perhaps  have  expected  that, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  servant  of  the  centurion,  Jesus 
would  have  spoken  the  word  where  he  was,  and  their 
brother  would  have  been  healed.  Then,  after  Lazarus 
had  died,  their  courier  came  back  with  the  assurance 
from  the  lips  of  Jesus,  "  This  sickness  is  not  unto 
death."  What  could  they  make  of  all  this?  We 
now,  looking  at  the  history  as  a  whole,  can  see  the 
meaning  of  the  mystery.  But  to  them,  as  they  were 
passing  through  the  suspense,  the  ordeal  must  have 
been  severe,  and  the  conduct  of  the  Lord  incompre- 
hensible. When,  however,  we  read  this  history  in  the 
light  ot  other  narratives,  we  see  here  only  a  paral- 
lel case  to  the  treatment  of  Jacob  by  the  Lord  at 
Peniel,  and  that  of  the  Syrophenician  woman  by 
Jesus  on  the  coasts  of  Tyre,  and  that  of  the  disciples 
while  they  "  toiled  in  rowing  "  all  through  the  night 
upon  the  tempestuous  lake.  He  delayed  only  that 
he  might  bring  a  larger  blessing  when  he  did  come, 
and  might  thereby  discipline  a  weak  faith  into 
strength,  as  well  as  furnish  a  support  to  his  afflicted 
people  in  every  after  age.  And  when  we  get  to  the  per- 
ception of  that  truth,  we  understand  the  striking  lan- 
guage of  the  Evangelist  as  he  records  the  fact  (verses 
5  and  6) :  "  Now  Jesus  loved  Martha,  and  her  sister, 
and  Lazarus,"  "  when  he  had  heard,  therefore,  that  he 
was  sick,  he  abode  two  days  still  in  the  same  place 
where  he  was."  He  loved  them,  therefore  he  did  not 
come  immediately  at  their  call.  That  looks  like  a 
non  sequitur,  but  it  is  the  sober  truth.  He  had  in 
store  for  them  a  greater  kindness  than  they  could 
have  dreamed  of ;  and  therefore  he  delayed  until  he 
could  confer  that  upon  them.     It  seemed  that  their 


300  THE  SOEROWTUL   "iF." 

prayer  was  unanswered  ;  but  the  answer  was  deferred 
only  that  it  should  be  surpassingly  benignant.  The  faith 
of  the  Roman  centurion  was  rewarded  by  the  cure  of 
his  servant ;  but  the  faith  of  beloved  friends  like 
Martha  and  Mary  was  to  be  surprised  by  the  yet 
grander  gift  of  the  restoration  of  Lazarus  from  the 
grave.  They  did  not  know  it  at  the  time ;  if  they 
had  known  it,  what  a  burden  would  have  been  taken 
from  their  hearts  ;  but  we  know  it,  and  that  should 
keep  us  from  ever  being  burdened  with  anxiety  about 
the  treatment  of  our  prayers.  "When,  therefore,  the 
Lord  seems  to  stay  away  from  us  though  we  cry  to 
him  ;  when  that  which  we  request  from  him  appears 
to  be  denied  to  us ;  when  the  gathering  storm 
grows  darker,  and  at  length,  in  spite  of  our  ap- 
plication unto  him,  breaks  over  our  heads,  let  us  re- 
member the  peculiar  "  tlierefore "  of  this  narrative, 
and  "  be  still."  There  is  nothing  for  us  at  such  a 
time  but  to  wait  in  patient,  trustful  expectation ;  but 
when  we  get  to  the  end  we  shall  see  that  there  was 
love  in  the  discipline,  and  shall  give  our  glad  indorse- 
ment to  the  good  Toplady's  lines  : 

"  Blest  is  the  man,  0  God, 

That  stays  himself  on  tliee  ; 
Who  wait  for  thy  salvation,  Lord, 
Shall  thy  salvation  see." 

lY.  But  advancing  another  step,  observe,  in  the 
fourth  place,  that  the  friends  of  Jesus  have  different 
individualities,  but  a  common  danger  in  their  sorrow. 
The  peculiarities  of  these  two  sisters  are  very  marked, 
and  it  is  a  striking  proof  of  the  truthfulness  of  the 
Evangelists  Luke  and  John,  that,  though  they  wrote 
independently  of  each  other,  and  describe  Martha  and 
Mary  in  quite  different  circumstances,  we  clearly 
recognize  the  similarity  of  the  portraits  which  they 


THE   SOKEOWFUL   "IF."  301 

draw.  Luke  describes  tliem  as  entertaining  Jesus  as 
their  guest ;  and  in  liis  picture  we  see  in  Martha  the 
kind-hearted  hostess,  stirring  about  in  earnest  activity 
to  have  on  her  table  everything  of  the  best  for  her 
Lord.  Indeed  such  was  her  eagerness  in  that  regard 
that  she  was  "  cumbered  with  much  serving,"  and 
could  give  attention  to  little  else  for  the  time.  She  has 
been  harshly  blamed  by  many  commentators  for  that, 
because  they  have  forgotten  that  it  was  Christ  whom 
she  was  seeking  to  serve,  and  that  in  these  attentions 
she  was  showing  her  love  to  him  in  her  own  way.  Just 
as  Mary  showed  hers,  in  her  way,  by  breaking  the 
alabaster  box  of  precious  ointments  over  his  feet,  and 
by  sitting  reverently  to  hear  his  word.  She  did  not 
understand  the  Lord  so  thoroughly  as  Mary  did,  but 
she  loved  him  just  as  earnestly,  and  believed  in  him 
just  as  implicitly.  Mary's  nature  was  deeper  than 
Martha's,  and  she  would  at  any  time  have  chosen 
rather  to  hear  the  Lord  utter  his  suggestive  sentences 
on  the  profoundest  themes,  than  to  partake  of  the 
richest  banquet  that  could  be  set  before  her.  So  in 
the  account  of  the  feast,  in  Luke,  she  shows  to  most 
advantage.  But  such  a  brooding  spirit  is  always 
more  affected  by  grief  than  is  an  active  soul ;  and  hence, 
in  the  narrative  of  John  here,  Martha  shows  to  the 
greater  advantage,  as  being  the  first  to  welcome  Jesus, 
and  as  having  composure  to  converse  with  him  upon 
their  trial.  Mary  was  utterly  prostrated.  She  took 
no  notice  of  the  announcement  of  the  Saviour's 
arrival ;  and  so  completely  overwhelmed  was  she, 
that  when  at  length  she  rose  to  accompany  her  sister, 
those  who  were  beside  her  said,  "She  goeth  to  the 
grave  to  weep  there ; "  while  when  she  came  to  the 
Saviour  she  fell  at  his  feet  in  a  paroxysm  of  grief,  and 
could  only  articulate  through  her  sobs  a  few  words  of 


302  THE   SORROWFUL   "IF." 

broken  agony.  Tlius  while  at  the  feast  the  com- 
posure was  Mary's,  at  the  grave  the  composure  was 
Martha's  ;  and  that  just  because  of  the  deeper  nature 
of  the  one  and  the  more  active  disposition  of  the 
other,  A  superficial  reader  might  be  apt  to  say  that 
the  two  pictures  are  utterly  inconsistent ;  but  a  pro- 
founder  study  will  only  make  it  plain  that  the  sorrow 
of  each  is  stamped  with  the  same  individuality  that 
was  so  conspicuous  at  the  feast.  Thus,  as  Dr.  Cand- 
lish*  says,  "  In  di£ferent  circumstances,  the  same  nat- 
ural temper  may  be  either  an  advantage  or  a  snare. 
Martha  was  never  so  much  occupied  in  the  emotion 
of  one  scene  or  subject  as  not  to  be  on  the  alert 
and  ready  for  the  call  to  another.  This  was  a  disad- 
vantage to  her  when  she  was  so  hurried  that  she 
could  not  withdraw  herself  from  household  cares  to 
wait  upon  the  Word  of  Life.  It  is  an  advantage 
to  her  now,  that  she  can,  with  com^jarative  ease, 
shake  off  her  depression  and  hasten  of  her  own 
accord  to  meet  her  Lord.  The  same  profound  feeling, 
again,  which  made  Mary  the  more  attentive  listener 
before,  makes  her  the  most  helpless  sufferer  now, 
and  disposes  her  almost  to  nurse  her  grief  until  Jesus, 
her  best  comforter,  sends  specially  and  emphatically 
to  rouse  her."  I  am  particular  to  note  all  this,  be- 
cause from  one-sided  expositors  Martha  has  received 
anything  but  just  appreciation,  and  because  the  pros- 
tration of  Mary  in  the  time  of  affliction  has  been 
almost  entirely  overlooked. 

But  though  thus  there  was  individuality  in  their 
sorrow,  they  had  both  fallen  before  the  same 
temptation,  for  both  alike  said  to  Jesus :  "Lord, 
if  thou  hadst  been  here  my  brother  had  not  died." 

*  "  Scripture  Characters,"  by  R.  S.  Candlish,  D.D.,  p.  Z3o. 


THE   SOEKOWFUL   "iF."  303 

This  was  not  a  reproach  of  him,  but  it  was  a  con- 
viction deeply  entertained  by  them,  and  because  it 
was  the  first  utterance  of  both  to  Jesus  we  may 
infer  that  it  had  been  often  said  between  them- 
selves during  his  mysterious  absence.  And  yet,  deep 
as  the  conviction  in  their  hearts  was,  we  can  see  that 
it  was  wrong.  For  as  we  know  the  Lord  Jesus  was 
there.  He  could  say  to  his  disciples,  even  at  Bethab- 
ara,  "  Lazarus  is  dead."  He  was  at  Bethany,  there- 
fore, in  his  omniscience,  and  being  so,  he  was  there 
also  in  his  omnipresence  and  omnipotence.  They  did 
not  know  it,  but  it  was  none  the  less  true  :  he  ivas  there 
and  yet  their  brother  died. 

Again,  they  had  no  warrant  for  their  belief  that  if 
he  had  been  visibly  with  them  their  brother's  life 
would  have  been  saved.  That  was  merely  their  own 
supposition.  For  anything  they  knew,  he  might  have 
permitted  Lazarus  to  languish  and  die,  even  if  he  had 
been  their  guest  at  the  time,  in  order  that  some  larger 
and  more  lasting  blessing  than  his  recovery  would 
have  been  might  be  conferred  upon  them.  So  their 
feeling,  however  natural,  was  simply  wrong ;  and 
wrong  as  it  was,  it  added  a  bitter  element  to  their 
grief,  for  it  led  them  to  say  that  their  affliction  might 
have  been  prevented,  and  so  it  opened  the  way  to 
murmuring  and  made  resignation  harder. 

But  it  is  much  easier  to  point  out  the  error  of  the 
sisters  here  than  it  is  to  keep  from  falling  into  it 
ourselves.  For  unhappily,  in  all  our  trials,  we  are 
prone  to  lose  sight  of  the  universality  of  God's 
providence,  and  to  torment  ourselves  with  this  un- 
believing "if,"  Have  we  lost  a  dear  friend  by 
death  ? — then  we  are  apt  to  exclaim  :  "  If  we  had 
only  taken  it  in  time  ; "  "  if  we  liad  only  been  able 
to  get  our  own  physician;"  "if  we  had  only  called 


304  THE  SOEROWEUL   "iT." 

in  tlie  help  of  that  eminent  medical  man ; "  or  "  if 
we  had  gone  with  him  in  time  to  some  milder  cli- 
mate, then  he  might  not  have  died,"  and  so  forth. 
Have  we  become  involved  in  business  perplexities  ? — 
then  the  burden  of  our  complaint  is  :  "  If  our  debtors 
had  not  disappointed  us,  or  if  we  could  only  have 
received  temporary  help  from  our  friends,  we  might 
have  tided  over  the  embarrassment  and  need  not  have 
suspended."  Have  we  lost  some  object  on  which  our 
hearts  were  set  ? — still  the  refrain  is  :  "i/",  if,  if,  then  we 
might  have  retained  it."  But  all  this  is  utterly  unbe- 
lieving, for  it  proceeds  on  the  principle  that  the 
providence  of  God  is  not  concerned  in  everything, 
and  it  gives  to  secondary  causes  a  supremacy  that 
does  not  belong  to  them.  The  Christian  utterance  is 
that  of  Paul :  "  We  know  that  all  things  work  together 
for  good  to  them  who  love  God "  :  AU  things,  not 
simply  those  which  are  apparently  prosperous,  but 
those  also  that  are  seetningly  adverse ;  all  things,  not 
merely  those  which  depend  on  the  operations  of  ex- 
ternal nature,  but  those  also  which  are  the  results  of 
the  actions  of  voluntary  agents.  Until  we  get  to  this 
belief  we  can  have  no  solid  comfort  in  the  hour  of 
trial.  Look  away,  therefore,  all  ye  who  are  afflicted, 
from  mere  secondary  causes,  and  have  faith  in  the 
providence  of  him  without  whom  a  sparrow  cannot 
fall  to  the  ground.  When  calamity  comes  upon  you, 
be  sure  that  it  is  not  because  this  or  that  accident 
prevented  relief,  nor  because  the  Saviour  was  not  with 
you,  but  because  it  was  his  will,  and  his  will  only,  to 
bring  about  that  which  shall  be  better  for  you  and 
others  than  your  deliverance  would  have  been.  Be 
still  and  confide  in  him,  and  soon  your  mourning  will 
be  ended  by  the  discovery  that  he  hath  done  all 
things  well.     "All  these  things  are  against  me,"  said 


THE  SOEEOWTUL   "IT."  305 

the  sorrowful  Jacob  when  lie  was  asked  to  let  Ben- 
jamin go  with  his  brothers  into  Egypt,  but  he  lived 
to  see  that  they  were  all  for  him,  for  God  was  in  them 
all,  and  Joseph  could  say  to  his  brethren :  "  Ye 
thought  evil  against  me  ;  but  God  meant  it  unto  good, 
to  bring  to  pass,  as  it  is  this  day,  to  save  much  people 
alive."  God  meant  it  unto  good.  Yes,  that  is  a  more 
wholesome  way  of  looking  at  things  than  it  is  to  deal 
in  "  ifs"  and  when  we  get  to  that  conviction  it  will  not 
be  so  hard  to  wait  in  patience  for  the  issue. 

Y.  But  now,  finally,  let  me  ask  you  to  observe  that 
the  friends  of  Jesus  have  a  blessed  end  to  all  their 
sorrows.  You  know  the  sequel  of  this  touching  his- 
tory. At  the  command  of  Jesus,  Lazarus  was  recalled 
to  life,  and  in  the  joy  of  receiving  him  back  to  their 
fellowship  and  affection  all  the  mystery  of  the  dark 
dispensation  was  made  clear  to  the  gladdened  sisters, 
while  by  the  whole  discipline,  as  well  as  by  the 
words  which  the  Master  himself  had  spoken  to 
them,  their  faith  was  quickened,  their  characters  were 
strengthened,  and  they  were  the  better  prepared  for 
the  deeper,  darker,  and  more  tremendous  mystery  of 
his  own  crucifixion  and  burial.  Now,  of  course,  we 
cannot  expect  just  such  an  issue  to  our  afflictions 
as  that ;  but  without  any  straining  of  interpretation, 
I  think  we  may  say  that  in  all  this  we  have  a  prophecy 
and  prelude  of  the  ultimate  result  of  all  our  earthly 
trials,  when  in  the  higher  resurrection  life  we  shall 
be  reunited  to  the  loved  ones  who  before  us  have 
fallen  asleep  in  Jesus,  and  shall  look  back  from  the 
vantage  ground  of  heaven  upon  all  God's  providential 
dealings  with  us  here  below.  Then  broken  fellow- 
ships shall  be  resumed,  and  those  chapters  in  our 
histories  which  seemed  here  the  most  incomprehen- 


306  THE   SORROWFUL   "iF." 

sible  shall  there  be  all  resolved,  so  that  we  shall  clearly 
see  how  it  came  about  that  the  very  love  of  Jesus  to 
us  held  him  back  from  coming  immediately  to  our 
relief  :  or  rather  we  shall  perceive  that  even  when 
we  thought  him  absent  he  was  most  truly  present 
with  us,  arranging  and  overruling  everything  for  our 
highest  good  and  the  glory  of  his  name.  He  does  not 
come  to  interpose  against  the  death  of  our  beloved  ; 
neither  does  he  recall  our  dead  to  our  embrace,  but  in 
our  case,  as  in  that  of  the  Bethany  mourners,  we  shall 
discover  that  there  was  love  in  the  delay,  and  we  shall 
be  glad  that  he  acted  as  he  did  when  we  behold  the 
grand  result.  Nor  only  in  the  case  of  such  an  afflic- 
tion as  bereavement  will  that  be  the  issue.  We  shall 
find  that  the  same  thing  is  true  of  all  our  tribula- 
tions, for  "  the  trial  of  your  faith,  being  much  more 
precious  than  of  gold  that  perisheth,  though  it  be  tried 
with  fire,  shall  be  found  unto  praise  and  honor  and 
glory  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ."  "  E.est  in  the 
Lord,  therefore,  and  wait  patiently  for  him,"  for  the 
day  is  coming  when  you  shall  be  constrained  to  say  : 
"  Because  the  Lord  was  with  us  our  trials  came  upon 
us,  and  he  brought  us  safely  through  them  into  his 
wealthy  place." 

And  now,  dear  friends,  I  have  completed  the  course 
of  thought  which  I  had  marked  out  for  this  discourse, 
and  I  leave  it  to  make  its  own  impression  on  your 
hearts.  Some  of  you  have  lately  been  called  to  pass 
through  deep  affliction.  Each  winter,  as  it  goes,  takes 
with  it  some  of  those  whose  forms  and  faces  were 
familiar  in  our  place  of  assembly,  so  that  now  as  I 
look  across  my  audience,  I  miss  the  countenances  of 
many  who,  years  ago,  were  wont  to  worship  with  us 
here,  and  during  the  last  few  months  the  homes  of  not 


THE  SORROWTTTL   "iP."  307 

a  few  among  us  have  been  saddened  with  a  desolation 
akin  to  that  which  fell  upon  the  cottage  of  Bethany. 
To  them  especially  I  have  spoken  to-day.  Take  to 
yourselves  the  consolations  in  which  this  history  is  so 
rich,  and  be  careful  lest  you  fall  before  the  temptation 
to  which  the  sisters  yielded.  Be  done  with  all  un- 
believing "ifs;"  do  not  deify  secondary  causes;  but 
say  with  Job,  "  The  Lord  hath  taken  away,"  and 
then  it  will  be  easy  to  add,  "  Blessed  be  the  name  of 
the  Lord,"  for  he  is  perfect  wisdom  and  perfect  love, 
and  ordereth  all  things  well.  And,  remembering  that 
those  who  have  lived  for  Christ  depart  only  to  be  with 
him,  lift  your  thoughts  to  the  place  into  which  they 
have  entered — so  shall  your  hearts  be  comforted,  and 
your  memories  of  the  past  be  transformed  into  hopes 
for  the  future.  For  you  shall  see  them  again  in  that 
glorious  home  into  which  neither  sin,  nor  sorrow,  nor 
pain,  nor  death  shall  enter.  Here  is  a  beautiful  adapta- 
tion of  my  text,  that  brings  out  both  the  danger  of 
murmuring  and  the  joy  of  faith  ;  let  me  commend  it  to 
your  attention,  that  you  may  be  at  once  warned  and 

cheered : 

We  sadly  watch'd  the  close  of  all, 

Life  balanced  on  a  breath ; 
We  saw  upon  his  features  fall 

The  awful  shade  of  death. 
All  dark  and  desolate  we  were ; 

And  murmuring  nature  cried: 
"  Oh  !  surely,  Lord  !  hadst  thou  been  here 

Our  brother  had  not  died. " 

But  when  its  glance  the  memory  cast 

On  all  that  grace  had  done, 
And  thought  of  life's  long  warfare  pass'd 

And  endless  victory  won, 
Then  faith  prevailing  wiped  the  tear, 

And  looking  upward,  cried : 
"  Oh  !  Lord,  thou  surely  hast  been  here  ; 

Our  brother  has  not  died." 


308  ,    THE   SORROWFUL   "IF." 

And  you  'wlio  heretofore  have  been  largely  exempt  from 
sorrow,  think  not  that  it  will  be  always  so  with  you. 
Trials  will  come.  Tribulations  will  come.  Bereave- 
ments will  come  on  you  as  on  others.  Therefore,  let 
the  thoughts  which  I  have  this  morning  uttered  sink 
into  your  hearts,  that  so  you  may  be  kept  from  mis- 
judging your  Saviour  in  the  hour  of  your  calamity,  and 
may  be  upborne  through  all  by  the  consciousness  that 
he  is  with  you,  and  the  assurance  that  by  and  by  you 
shall  be  with  him.  May  God  add  his  blessing.  Amen. 
May  6,  1883. 


THE  HIDDEN  SUPPORT  OF  LIFE. 

John  iv.  32.  But  he  said  unto  them,  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye 
know  not  of. 

Weary,  hungry  and  athirst,  Jesus  sat  beneatli  the 
glare  of  an  Oriental  noon  on  the  ledge  of  Jacob's  well. 
His  disciples  had  left  him  all  alone  for  a  season  while 
they  went  into  the  neighboring  city  to  buy  food,  and 
on  their  return  they  were  surprised  to  find  that  he 
was  speaking  with  a  woman  who  had  come  to  draw 
water,  and  who,  almost  as  soon  as  they  appeared,  left 
her  pitcher  behind  her  and  hastened,  like  one  who  was 
on  a  special  errand,  into  the  town  from  which  they 
had  just  come.  And  she  was  on  a  special  errand,  for 
after  a  conversation  which  had  probed  her  heart  to 
its  depths  and  brought  to  light  the  secrets  of  her  life, 
she  had  found  the  Messiah  in  the  mysterious  stranger 
and  was  off  in  eager  joy  to  say  to  all  her  people,  "  Come 
and  see  a  man  that  told  me  all  things  that  ever  I  did : 
is  not  this  the  Christ?"  But  all  that  was  at  the 
moment  unknown  to  the  discijDles,  and  so  when  they 
urged  their  Master  to  partake  of  the  food  which  they 
had  provided  and  he  declined,  saying  :  "  I  have  meat 
to  eat  that  ye  know  not  of,"  they  were  puzzled  and 
asked  among  themselves  :  "  Hath  any  man  brought 
him  aught  to  eat  ?  "  Their  perplexity  was  natural  in 
the  circumstances,  for  they  imagined  that  he  had  re- 
ferred to  ordinary  material  food,  but  when  he  added, 
"  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me  and 
to  finish  his  work/'  they  began  to  understand  that 


310  THE   HIDDEN  STJPPOET  OF  LIFE. 

during  tlieir  absence  lie  liacl  been  engaged  in  liis 
"Father's  business,"  and  tliat  lie  was  describing  the 
inner  satisfaction  wliicli  lie  had  enjoyed  in  its  dis- 
charge. But  when  lie  went  on  to  speak  of  their  enter- 
ing into  his  labors,  they  recognized  also,  that  in  the 
unfolding  of  his  own  experience  he  was  testifying  to 
a  fact  which  might  be  verified  in  theirs.  It  is  in- 
deed true  that  no  one  else  can  afiirm  as  unqualifiedly 
as  he  did,  that  the  doing  of  the  Father's  will  and  the 
finishing  of  the  Father's  work  is  his  meat ;  but  still 
all  who  have  believed  in  him  and  have  received  his 
spirit,  can  so  far  forth  at  least  adopt  his  words,  and 
therefore  I  do  not  misuse  them  when  I  regard  them 
as  suggesting  for  our  consideration  the  hidden  support 
of  life. 

Before  entering  on  the  exposition  of  that  topic 
however,  it  may  be  well  to  set  clearly  before  you  the 
general  principles  which  underlie  the  expression 
which  the  Lord  has  here  employed.  It  is  an  affirma- 
tive way  of  enunciating  the  same  truth  which,  in  its 
negative  form,  he  uttered  when,  in  reply  to  Satan's 
suggestion  that  he  should  command  stones  to  be  made 
bread  for  the  removal  of  his  hunger,  he  said :  "  It 
is  written,  man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by 
every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God." 
Now  putting  these  two  sayings  together,  and  having 
regard  both  to  their  undoubted  significance  and  to 
the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  spoken,  we  get 
some  valuable  results. 

I.  For  one  thing,  they  teach  that,  in  the  case  of  hu- 
man creatures  at  least,  life  is  a  higher  thing  than  exist- 
ence. Man  is  a  complex  being,  having  a  soul  as  well 
as  a  body.  His  soul  allies  him  with  God  and  the  un- 
seen, while  his  body  links  him  to  the  animal  and  the 


THE  HIDDEN  SUPPOET  OF  LITE.         311 

material.  The  meat  by  wliicli  the  soul  is  supported 
is  spiritual ;  that  by  which  the  body  is  maintained  is 
material.  The  soul,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case, 
is  superior  to  the  body — is  indeed  the  tenant  of  the 
body ;  and  so  the  body  is  for  the  soul  and  not  the 
soul  for  the  body.  The  gratification  of  the  body  in 
its  material  support  is  simply  animal  existence ;  but 
life  for  a  man  is  the  culture  and  development  of  his 
soul  through  the  doing  of  the  will  of  God.  True,  the 
body  has  its  wants  which  must  be  cared  for ;  but  the 
supply  of  these  is  only  means  to  the  attainment  of  a 
higher  end,  that  end  being  the  doing  of  the  will  of 
God  by  the  soul.  When,  however,  the  means  are 
elevated  into  the  end,  and  a  man  seeks  the  pampering 
of  the  body  only,  he  has  thereby  abdicated  his  man- 
hood and  sunk  into  a  mere  animal.  The  first  question, 
therefore,  which  faces  the  youth  when  he  awakes  to 
moral  consciousness  and  recognizes  that  he  has  a  soul 
within  him  is  this  :  "  Am  I  content  merely  to  exist  ? 
or  do  I  mean  to  live  indeed  ?  "  Or,  to  put  it  in  other 
words  :  "  Am  I  to  be  my  body's  ?  or  is  my  body  to  be 
mine?  and  mine  for  God?  What  shall  be  my  aim 
henceforth  ?  Shall  I  exist  simply  to  eat  and  drink ; 
or  shall  I  eat  and  drink  in  order  to  live  by  glorifying 
and  enjoying  God?"  That  is  the  great  hinge  on 
which  the  quality  of  a  man's  career  turns ;  and  ac- 
cording as  he  swings  it  to  this  side  or  to  that,  he  will 
become  a  slave  of  appetite  or  a  servant  of  God.  Ah ! 
how  often  is  the  young  man  tempted  into  sensuality 
by  the  invitation  of  his  companions  :  "  Come,  let  us 
see  life  !  "  But  sensuality  is  not  life  for  a  man.  Life 
for  a  man  is  something  higher,  nobler,  more  glorious 
by  far,  even  "to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  us,  and 
to  finish  his  work."  It  is  not,  as  the  gourmand  fancies, 
to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  the  table  ;  not,  as  the  drunk- 


312         THE  HIDDEN  SUPPORT  OF  LIFE. 

art!  madly  sings,  to  drown  care  in  the  flowing  bowl ; 
not  as  the  sensualist  declares,  to  give  loose  rein  to  the 
lowest  passions  of  our  nature.  All  these  are  but 
forms  of  animal  enjoyment,  and  the  man  who  makes 
these  the  ends  he  seeks  is  simply  existing,  and  has 
sunk  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  rational  and  immortal 
being.  He  only  can  be  said  to  live  a  man's  proper 
life  who,  by  faith  in  God  and  obedience  to  his  word,  is 
striving  constantly  to  serve  the  Lord. 

11.  But  thes3  words  suggest  to  us,  in  the  second 
place,  that  in  the  prosecution  of  life,  as  thus  under- 
stood, we  must  lay  our  account  with  manifold  priva- 
tions, difficulties  and  conflicts.  For  we  have  not  now 
a  perfectly  harmonious  environment.  We  do  not 
begin,  as  Adam  did,  in  a  paradise  of  innocence.  But 
we  come  into  a  world  where  sin  is  abounding,  and  we 
bring  with  us  natures  all  too  prone  to  listen  to  the 
tempter's  blandishments ;  so  that  the  \eYj  first  motions 
of  real  life  within  us  often  take  the  form  of  conflict, 
either  with  ourselves  or  with  those  influences  by  which 
we  are  surrounded.  Sometimes  we  have  the  longings 
of  the  flesh  so  strong  upon  us  that  when  we  "  would 
do  good  evil  is  present  with  us  ; "  and  the  will,  to  use 
the  words  of  another,  may  ba  "  struck  down  by  the 
lightning  of  passion,  or  may  move  creaking  with  the 
friction  of  temper,  or  may  sink  in  the  collapse  of 
depression."  *  And  even  if  all  should  be  at  peace 
Avithin,  we  may  have  much  to  try  us  from  without. 
The  strain  of  labor  may  be  severe,  or  tlie  course  which 
we  feel  impelled  to  take  may  estrange  our  friends 
from  us  and  leave  us  in  utter  solitude,  or  the  claims 
of  interest  may  be  so  strong  for  the  moment  as  almost 

*  James  Martineau,  D.D.     "  Hours  of  Thought,"  1st  scries,  p.  141. 


THE   HIDDEN   SUPPOKT   OF  LIFE.  313 

to  outweigh  in  our  regard  those  of  cTut}^  or  at  least 
to  make  the  sacrifice  seem  something  terrible — or  the 
sight  of  the  apparent  prosperity  of  those  who  are  not 
burdened  with  conscience  may  tempt  us  to  exclaim 
with  the  Psalmist :  "  Verily,  I  have  cleansed  my  heart 
in  vain,"  so  that  our  feet  may  almost  slip.  Ah !  who 
is  there  among  us  that  has  begun  to  live  indeed,  and 
knows  not  experiences  like  these  ?  But  let  us  not  be 
discouraged.  These  are  the  evidences  that  we  do 
live  ;  for  if  we  had  been  content  with  simple  existence 
we  should  have  had  no  such  conflicts.  It  is  not  the 
having  of  them  that  should  distress  us,  but  rather  the 
being  tvorsted  hy  them,  for  the  promise  is  not  to  him 
who  has  had  no  battle,  but  "to  him  that  overcometh." 

III.  But  these  words  suggest  to  us,  in  the  third 
place,  that  under  such  experiences  the  strength  of 
the  man  comes  from  hidden  support.  He  has  meat  to 
eat  of  which  others  know  not.  He  could  not  sustain 
himself  if  he  had  not.  If  he  deny  himself  present 
gratification  he  feeds  upon  the  future  food  for  which 
he  lias  given  up  the  fleeting  joy.  If  he  brave  the  con- 
demnation of  the  ungodly,  he  delights  in  the  conscious- 
ness that  ho  has  the  approval  of  his  God.  If  he  have 
to  go  without  many  of  the  worldly  advantages  which 
others  possess,  he  has  the  satisfaction  of  having  ac- 
complished much  which  they  have  never  attempted. 
If  he  be  left  apparently  "  in  the  blank  and  solitude  of 
things  "  to  endure  affliction  or  suffer  persecution,  he 
has  a  constant  solace  in  the  assurance  that  he  is  still 
on  the  side  of  God,  and  that  ere  long  "  He  will  bring 
forth  his  righteousness  as  the  light  and  his  judg- 
ment as  the  noonday."  These  are  things  which  the 
world  cannot  give  him  and  which  the  world  cannot 
take  away  ;  and  by  these  things,  and  such  as  these, 
14 


314         THE  HIDDEN  SUPPORT  OF  LIFE. 

all  those  wliose  lives  have  benefited  and  blessed 
humanity  have  been  sustained.  This  hidden  meat  is 
the  food  of  heroes,  and  has  always  been  the  nourish- 
ment of  those  who  have  "  resisted  unto  blood  strivinsc 
against  sin." 

lY.  But  these  words  suggest  to  us,  fourthly,  that 
when  a  man  has  no  such  secret  support  his  life  loses 
all  spiritual  importance  and  becomes  a  mere  groveling 
thing  of  animal  enjoyment.  The  soul  in  such  circum- 
stances is  starved,  and  all  true  nobleness  disappears 
from  the  character.  The  wretched  one  has  put  out 
his  faith  eyes,  and  his  own  passions  have  set  him, 
Samson-like,  to  grind  in  ceaseless  drudgery  for  their 
gratification.  It  is  a  terrible  thing  to  think  of,  and 
yet,  alas !  how  many  there  are  in  this  great  city  of 
ours  who,  beginning  on  Delilah's  lap,  have  ended  in  a 
slavery  and  degradation  more  horrible  by  far  than 
that  of  the  old  Hebrew  giant !  When  the  hidden 
food  that  God  in  Christ  sujDplies  is  despised,  be  sure 
that  the  noblest  life  is  thenceforward  unattainable ; 
the  man  is  descending  to  the  animal ;  the  life  is 
degenerating  into  mere  existence,  and  the  soul  is 
being  sacrificed  for  the  body.  These  principles  are 
of  immense  importance.  They  are  absolutely  funda- 
mental, and  they  cannot  be  neglected  without  disas- 
trous consequences  resulting  from  our  imprudence. 
For  these  reasons  I  have  felt  constrained  to  put  them 
thus  in  prominent  and  distinct  relief  before  you,  not 
Avithout  the  hope  that  through  their  instrumentality 
the  Divine  Spirit  may  quicken  some  among  you  into 
life  indeed. 

But  now,  leaving  mere  generalities,  let  me  endeavor 
to  particularize  some  of  the  forms  under  which  the 
Christian  receives  this  hidden  support  of  life — some 


THE   HIDDEN  SUPPORT  OF  LIFE.  315 

of  the  ways  in  which  he  has  meat  to  eat  which  others 
know  not  of. 

And  first,  I  remark  that  he  has  often  such  food  in 
a  "  good  conscience."  I  enter  not  now  into  any  meta- 
physical analysis  of  the  faculty  of  conscience.  Let  it 
suffice  to  say  that  it  is  that  within  us  which  gives  us 
the  distinction  between  right  and  wrong,  along  with 
the  feeling  of  obligation  to  do  the  one  and  to  refrain 
from  doing  the  other.  It  deals  in  the  words  "  ought " 
and  "  ought  not."  It  lays  down  the  law  to  the  soul, 
and  cannot  be  better  described  than  it  has  been  by 
Bishop  Butler,  as  "  that  superior  principle  in  every 
man  which  distinguishes  between  the  internal  prin- 
ciples of  his  heart  as  well  as  his  external  actions, 
which  passes  judgment  upon  himself  and  them  ;  pro- 
nounces determinately  some  actions  to  be  in  them- 
selves just,  right,  good ;  others  to  be  in  themselves 
evil,  wrong,  unjust ;  which,  without  being  consulted, 
without  being  advised  with,  magisterially  exerts  itself 
and  approves  or  condemns  him  the  doer  of  them 
accordingly ;  and  which,  if  not  forcibly  stopped,  nat- 
urally and  always,  of  course,  goes  on  to  anticipate  a 
higher  and  more  effectual  sentence,  which  shall  here- 
after second  and  affirm  its  own."  This  is  the  law 
written  in  the  heart,  of  which  Paul  makes  mention ; 
and  though  depravity  has  in  some  degree  corrupted 
it,  yet  when  it  is  purified  and  rectified  by  the  opera- 
tion on  it  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  through  the  belief  of  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  it  may  be  regarded  as  being,  in 
a  very  true  sense,  God's  representative  in  the  soul. 
Its  approbation,  therefore,  being  the  reflex  and  echo 
of  the  approval  of  God,  is  a  great  source  of  support 
to  a  struggling  and  tried  believer,  even  as  its  condem- 
nation must  be  always  a  cause  of  weakness  and  of 
pain.     When  one  is  accused  he  is  not  so  much  to  be 


316         THE  HIDDEN  SUPPORT  OF  LIFE. 

pitied  if  lie  be  accused  falsely,  as  lie  would  be  if  tlie 
accusation  were  true.  In  tlie  one  case,  lie  knows  that 
whatever  men  may  say  or  do,  God  will  vindicate  him 
in  the  end.  In  the  other,  he  is  already  condemned 
by  himself,  and  that  is  only  the  sure  foretaste  of 
his  condemnation  by  God.  Thus  conscience  makes 
of  a  man  either  a  hero  or  a  coward — a  hero  if  he  has 
its  unqualified  indorsement,  but  a  coward  if  he  feels 
already  its  sharp  upbraidings.  See  how  this  was 
proved  by  the  contrast  between  Paul  and  Felix.  By 
all  ordinary  laws  the  Apostle  ought  to  have  been 
daunted  before  the  governor.  He  had  little  of  power 
or  pomj)  about  him,  but  Felix  had  all  the  style  and 
authority  of  a  Koman  magnate  ;  and  besides,  Paul 
was  a  prisoner  at  the  bar,  and  Felix  the  judge  upon 
the  bench.  Yet  what  do  we  see  ? — the  prisoner  giving 
a  charge  on  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judgment, 
and  the  judge  trembling  as  he  listens.  Why  ?  Because 
the  one  could  say  :  "  Herein  do  I  exercise  myself  to 
have  a  conscience  void  of  offense  toward  God  and 
toward  man  ; "  and  because  the  other  was  haunted  by 
the  remembrance  of  his  unjust  decisions,  his  rob- 
beries, his  cruelties,  and  his  impurities.  Thus  Paul 
had  meat  to  eat  of  which  Felix  knew  nothing,  and  in 
the  strength  of  that  food  he  grew  into  a  greatness 
which  we  have  never  seen  equaled  since  his  day. 
In  the  same  way  we  explain,  to  a  very  large  extent 
at  least,  the  robustness  of  each  member  of  that "  noble 
army  of  martyrs,"  to  whom  the  world  has  owed  so  much, 
who  "  met  the  tyrant's  brandished  steel,  the  lion's 
gory  mane,"  and  gave  up  the  existence  of  the  body 
that  they  might  maintain  the  life  of  the  soul  in  the 
preservation  of  their  allegiance  to  their  Lord.  A 
good  conscience  is  a  continual  feast,  and  they  who 
have  that  within  themselves  can  do  without  the  ban- 


THE   HIDDEN   SUPPORT   OF  LITE.  317 

quets  of  the  world.  I  know,  indeed,  that  in  these 
days  it  has  become  fashionable  to  sneer  at  all  this, 
and  there  are  many  who  will  say  that  they  "  cannot 
afford  to  keep  a  conscience."  But  be  not  ye  among 
the  number.  Cannot  afford  to  keep  a  conscience  ! 
What  is  gold  compared  with  the  assurance  that  you 
have  done  that  which  God  would  have  you  do?  and 
what  will  whole  mines  of  .wealth  or  whole  burnt- 
offerings  of  human  applause  avail  if,  after  all,  you  are 
despised  by  yourself,  and  have  that  within  you  which 
constantly  upbraids  you  with  meanness  and  corrup- 
tion ?  O,  it  gives  a  manly  erectuess  to  you  when  you 
can  hold  uj)  your  head  and  say  with  Paul :  "  "With  me 
it  is  a  small  matter  to  be  judged  of  by  you  or  of  man's 
judgment ;  yea,  I  judge  not  mine  own  self ;  there  is 
one  that  judgeth  me,  even  God."  A  crust  with  the 
consciousness  of  unswerving  loyalty  to  God  is  better 
far  than  affluence  with  remorse  gnawing  at  the  heart ; 
and  he  may  well  defy  all  human  antagonism  who  is 
only  sure  of  these  three  things — a  good  God,  a  good 
conscience,  and  a  good  cause — for  then  he  has  "  meat 
to  eat  of  which  the  world  knows  nothing." 

But  a  second  form  in  which  the  Christian  often  en- 
joys this  hidden  support  is  that  of  a  worthy  ambition. 
If  we  are  intent  upon  the  attainment  of  some  fixed 
purpose,  then  our  steady  contemplation  of  that  will 
sustain  us  amid  distractions  and  difficulties  and  trials 
which  otherwise  would  have  overmastered  us.  We 
see  that  exemplified  even  on  the  lower  level  of  ordi- 
nary temporal  pursuits.  Every  reader  of  Macaulay's 
Essays  must  remember  how  that  fascinating  writer 
describes  the  boy  Warren  Hastings  lying,  when  just 
seven  years  old,  on  the  banks  of  the  rivulet  that  flows 
through  his  parental  domain,  and  resolving  that  he 
would  recover  the  estate  which  had  belonged  to  his 


318         THE  HIDDEN  SUPPORT  OF  LIFE. 

father,  and  then  adds :  "  This  purpose,  formed  in  in- 
fancy and  poverty,  grew  stronger  as  his  intellect 
expanded  and  as  his  fortune  rose.  *  '^  ^  When  under 
a  tropical  sun  he  ruled  fifty  millions  of  Asiatics,  his 
hopes,  amidst  all  the  cares  of  war,  finance  and  legisla- 
tion, still  pointed  to  Daylesford."  Yes,  that  was  the 
secret  meat  by  which  he  was  sustained.  And  to  take 
a  more  recent  instance.  As  I  was  wandering  with  a 
friend,  some  summers  ago,  through  a  Highland  glen 
in  the  island  of  Arran,  he  pointed  out  a  rock  to  me, 
and  said  :  "  There's  where  Louis  Napoleon  used  to 
sit  when,  during  his  exile,  he  was  here  as  tlie  guest  of 
the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  and  the  story  is  told  that,  one 
day  after  he  had  been  resting  there  in  solitude  for 
hours,  another  of  the  visitors  at  the  castle  came  and 
said  to  him :  '  What  are  you  thinking  about  so  long 
and  all  alone  ?  '  and  received  for  answer  :  '  I  was  plan- 
ning a  system  of  sewerage  which  I  mean  to  carry  out 
in  Paris  when  I  become  the  ruler  of  France.'  "  That 
was  his  secret  food,  by  the  eating  of  which  he  kept  up 
his  heart  in  those  days  of  darkness ;  and  though  I  am 
no  great  admirer  of  the  man,  I  see  through  such  an 
incident  some  glimmerings  of  greatness  in  him.  Now 
a  similar  effect  is  produced  by  a  worthy  ambition  in 
the  heart  of  the  Christian.  Let  him  be  but  thoroughly 
resolved  to  make  the  world  the  better  for  his  being  in 
it ;  let  him  set  his  soul  upon  the  attainment  of  some 
good,  not  for  himself,  but  for  his  fellow  men ;  or,  let 
him  live  for  the  bringing  of  multitudes  to  Christ,  and 
then  that  purpose  will  enable  him  "  to  bear  up  and  steer 
right  onward,"  keeping  a  steady  course  in  spite  of  the 
darkest  night  or  wildest  weather.  It  is  written  of  the 
Lord  himself,  that  "for  the  joy  set  before  him" — and 
that  was  the  joy  of  saving  men — "  he  endured  the  cross, 
despising  the  shame."  And  we  find  precisely  the  same 


THE   HIDDEN   SUPPOET   OF  LITE.  319 

thing  in  the  history  before  iis,  when  the  joy  of  saving 
this  Samaritan  woman,  and  the  eager  expectation  of 
benefiting  those  who  were  coming  to  him  at  her  invita- 
tion, made  him  forget  for  the  time  his  hunger  and  has 
weariness.  So  it  will  be  with  us  also  in  the  measure 
in  which  we  follow  him.  This  is  the  secret  of  the 
strength  of  those  who  have  given  their  lives  to  the 
missionary  cause.  They  have  discounted  the  future 
for  the  benefit  of  the  present,  and  in  their  anticipation 
of  the  results  which  shall  spring  from  their  work  in 
generations  to  come,  they  have  that  which  sustains 
them  in  their  labors  now.  They  see  the  harvest  al- 
ready in  the  handful  of  seed  which  they  are  preparing 
to  scatter,  and  seeing  that,  they  have  new  strength  to 
sow.  At  the  unveiling  of  the  Livingstone  statue,  in 
the  city  of  Edinburgh,  the  venerable  Dr.  Moffat, 
Livingstone's  father-in-law,  as  reported  in  the  news- 
papers of  the  day,  spoke  to  this  effect :  "  When  Living- 
stone was  led  into  the  unknown  regions  of  Africa,  they 
all  knew  the  dangers  to  which  he  was  exposed,  but 
nothing  could  influence  him  to  desist.  He  had  an 
Africa  in  view  over  which  they  had  talked  many 
times  together,  and  in  which  he  could  see  vessels 
sailing  on  the  lakes,  and  spires  rising  and  churches 
built.  He  never  lost  sight  of  that."  And  that  was  a 
part  of  his  hidden  food.  If,  therefore,  you  would  have 
something  within  you  that  will  uphold  you  amid  diffi- 
culty and  discouragement,  get  a  benevolent  ambition, 
resolve  to  do  some  Christian  service  for  your  genera- 
tion, set  your  heart  on  the  righting  of  some  wrong,  or 
the  removing  of  some  ignorance,  or  the  undoing  of 
some  burden  for  others,  by  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  and  you  will  have  therein  meat  to  eat 
of  which  others  know  not. 

But  akin  to  that  which  I  have  just  described  is  the 


320  THE   HIDDEN   SUPPORT   OF   LIFE. 

third  form  in  whicli  tlie  Christian  enjoys  this  hidden 
support,  that,  namely,  of  a  strong  faith  in  the  unseen 
and  in  the  future.  This  enables  him  to  distinguish 
between  things  as  they  appear  to  men,  and  as  they 
really  are  before  the  eye  of  God,  and  gives  him  an 
inward  ideal  toward  which  he  is  always  striving,  and 
the  attainment  of  w^hich  by  him  will  be  heaven  itself. 
Now  where  can  we  find  a  better  illustration  of  this 
than  that  furnished  by  Moses,  of  whom  it  is  said  that 
"  he  endured  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisible,"  and 
again,  that  "  he  chose  rather  to  suffer  affliction  with 
the  people  of  God  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin 
for  a  season,  esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater 
riches  than  all  the  treasures  of  Egypt,  because  he  had 
respect  unto  the  recompense  of  the  reward  ?  "  Through 
the  veil  which  conceals  the  spirit  realm  from  mortal 
sight  his  faith-eye  saw  the  living  throne  of  the  eternal 
God ;  and  that  for  him  neutralized  all  the  influences 
of  earth,  so  that  the  compass  of  his  conscience  trembled 
sensitively  yet  steadily  to  Jehovah.  In  his  light  he 
saw  clearly  the  relative  position  of  earthly  and  heav- 
enly things,  the  infinite  difference  between  the  tem- 
poral and  the  eternal,  and  he  reckoned  that  the  light 
afflictions  which  were  but  for  a  moment  were  not 
worthy  to  be  compared  with  that  "  far  more  exceeding 
and  eternal  weight  of  glory."  Beyond  the  boundary 
of  earth  and  time  he  saw  a  glory  and  a  greatness 
which  dazzled  into  dimness  the  glittering  pomp  even 
of  an  Egyptian  royalty,  and  the  contemplation  of  the 
one  gave  him  strength  to  sacrifice  the  other.  Here 
again  we  see  that  the  conduct  of  the  believer  is  only 
an  application  to  the  relation  between  this  life  and 
that  which  is  to  come  of  the  principles  on  which  men 
act  in  seeking  the  honors  and  rewards  of  earth.  The 
ideal  with  both  dominates  over  the  real ;   the  only 


THE   HIDDEN  SUPPORT   OF  LIFE.  321 

difference  is  tliat  with  him  the  ideal  is  higher  than 

with  them.     Thej  labor  for  a  corruptible  crown,  "  but 

he  for  an  incorruptible."     What  the  student  is  doing 

for  his  scholarship,  and  the  merchant  for  his  wealth, 

and  the  statesman  for  his  office,  and  the  author  for  his 

fame,  he  is  doing  for  his  recompense  of  eternal  reward. 

Each  has  his  own  secret  food.     Each  is  giving  up  a 

present  advantage  for  a  future  good.     Both  alike  are 

walking  and  working   by  faith;   but  the  Christian's 

faith  takes  in  eternity.     He  hears  a  voice  they  cannot 

hear ;  he  sees  a  hand  they  cannot  see.     So  he  follows 

after  in  the  sure  confidence  that  in  the  end  there  shall 

be  for  him  a  crown  of  righteousness  that  fadeth  not 

away.     This  assurance  is  the  hidden  food  by  which 

his  soul  is  supported  amid  all  the   privations   and 

afflictions  of  his  earthly  lot. 

But  to  mention  only  one  other  thought.    I  remark 

that  the  Christian  enjoys  this  hidden  support  in  the 

form   of    divine    companionship.     When   Jesus   was 

passing  into  Gethsemane  he  said  to  his  followers  :  "  Ye 

shall  be  scattered  every  man  to  his  own,  and  shall 

leave  me  alone ;  and  yet  I  am  not  alone,  because  the 

Father  is  with   me."     And  when   Paul   at   his  first 

answer  was  forsaken  by  all  his  friends  he  affirmed 

that  "  the  Lord  stood  by  him  and  strengthened  him." 

So  also  when  he  and  Silas  were  in  prison  at  Philippi, 

with  their  backs  smarting  from  the  scourging  to  which 

they  had  been  subjected,  and  their  feet  fast  in  the  stocks, 

"they  prayed  and  sang   praises   unto    God."     They 

had  meat  to  eat  of  which  their  adversaries  knew  not, 

and  by  that  they  were  supj^orted  when  others  would 

have  fainted.     Nor  are  these  exceptional   instances. 

The  believer  "walks  with  God ;"  and  in  that  fellowship 

has  his  sure  support.     He  can  say,  in  the  words  of  the 

hymn : 

14* 


322         THE  HIDDEN  SUPPORT  OF  LIFE. 

"  I  find  him  lifting  up  my  head. 
He  brings  salvation  near; 
His  presence  makes  me  free  indeed. 
And  he  \vill  soon  ajDpear. " 

God  is  to  liim  "  a  very  present  help  in  trouble  ; "  and  by 
the  words  of  his  promises,  by  the  suggestions  of  his 
Spirit,  haply  also  by  the  ministrations  of  his  angelic 
servants — unrecognized  at  the  moment,  yet  full  of 
encouragement — he  gives  cheer  to  his  people  in  their 
despondency,  and  strength  to  them  in  their  weakness. 
"  The  best  of  all,"  said  the  dying  Wesley,  "  is  that 
God  is  with  us."  "Come,"  said  Luther  in  his  days  of 
trial,  "  and  let  us  sing  the  46th  Psalm — '  God  is  our 
refuge  and  our  strength.' "  There  is  no  solace  or 
support  to  be  compared  with  that.  To  know  that  we 
are  on  God's  side  and  that  God  is  ou  our  side,  that  is 
meat  indeed,  and  there  are  experiences  in  which 
nothing  else  will  avail  to  hold  us  up.  As  one  has  well 
said  :  "  On  the  bed  of  pain,  when  thought  and  will 
swim  feebly  away  and  we  are  condensed  into  the 
poignant  moments,  when  we  long  for  the  night,  but 
when  it  comes  the  stars  glide  too  slowly  and  the 
silence  will  not  let  us  moan ;  and  we  watch  for  the 
morning,  but  when  it  dawns  the  soft  light  mocks  us 
with  its  sweetness  and  the  birds  with  the  blitheness 
of  their  song :  in  the  vigils  of  anxiety  when  some  life 
which  is  our  all  trembles  in  the  scale,  and  we  extort 
a  thousand  contradictory  oracles  from  the  flush  ujDon 
the  features  or  the  cloud  upon  the  eye  ;  under  the 
sting  of  calumny  when  things  we  most  abhor  are  told 
of  us,  and  averted  faces  and  sarcastic  words  show  that 
the  lie  has  proved  too  strong  and  the  love  of  friends 
too  weak ;  in  the  countless  vicissitudes  of  broken 
fortunes  and  shattered  health  and  disappointed  hopes ; 
all  must  look  like  ruin  if  we  have  no  stay  beyond  the 


THE  HIDDEN  SUPPORT  OF  LIFE.         323 

impression  of  the  liour."  *  But  if  tlieu  there  break  in 
upon  our  perplexity  a  voice  saying  unto  us  :  "  Fear 
not,  for  I  am  with  thee ;  be  not  dismayed,  for  I  am  thy 
God ;  I  will  help  thee,  yea  I  will  strengthen  thee,  yea 
I  will  uphold  thee  with  the  right  hand  of  my  righteous- 
ness." "Lo  I  am  with  you  always  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  world.  I  will  never  leave  thee,  no,  no,  I  will 
never  forsake  thee ; "  immediately  there  is  a  calm. 
*'  In  loneliness  we  have  still  an  ever-living  communion. 
Deserted  by  the  voices  of  affection,  we  are  with  him 
who  attuned  their  sweetness  and  will  console  their 
loss ;  and  dying  we  but  pass  to  the  very  source  and 
home  of  life." 

Nor  only  for  such  great  emergencies  is  this  com- 
panionship a  secret  fountain  of  support.  It  is  as 
valuable  for  the  common  weariness  of  a  common 
day,  and  under  the  dull  monotony  of  that  constant 
routine  whose 

"  Sameness  doubles  cares. 
While  one  unbroken  chain  of  work 
The  flagging  temi)er  wears. " 

For  if,  exhausted  by  such  labors,  we  can  get  "  the  un- 
expanded  thought  of  the  eternal  God"  to  lie  closer 
to  our  hearts,  we  shall  find  that  by  itself  "  that 
thought  is  bliss,"  and  the  assurance  "  I  will  not  fail 
thee  nor  forsake  thee  "  will  send  us  on  our  way  re- 
joicing so  that  we  shall  ply 

"  Our  daily  task  with  busier  feet 
Because  our  secret  souls  a  holy  strain  repeat. " 

Happy,  O  thrice  happy !  they  who  thus  have  meat  to 
eat  of  which  the  world  kno'rs  not. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  tell   me   what  the  hidden 

*  James  Martineau,   D.D.     "Hours  of  Thought,"  first  series,  as 
before,  pp.  151,  152. 


324         THE  HIDDEN  SUPPOKT  OF  LIFE. 

siippoa*t  of  your  life  is,  and  I  will  tell  you  whether 
you  are  a  Christian  indeed.  To  what  or  to  whom  do 
you  resort  in  times  of  weakness,  depression  and  spir- 
itual exhaustion?  "When  your  heart  is  overwhelmed, 
to  what  or  to  whom  do  you  go  for  strength  ?  To  the 
stimulants  of  the  world,  whether  in  the  shape  of  its 
beverages,  or  its  amusements,  or  its  pleasures,  or  its 
business?  or  to  God  in  Christ?  To  the  rock  that 
is  higher  than  you  ?  or  to  some  of  those  that  are  be- 
neath you  ?  to  Christ  or  to  the  world  ?  The  answer 
will  infallibly  reveal  whether  you  are  or  are  not 
the  followers  of  him  who  here  did  say,  "  I  have 
meat  to  eat  that  ye  know  not  of."  Shrink  not,  I 
beseech  you,  from  applying  the  test,  and  if  you  find 
that  you  are  none  of  his,  may  the  truths  which  have 
now  been  set  before  you  lead  you  to  repair  at  once  to 
him  who  alone  can  say  with  truth  to  a  human  soul, 
"  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,  my  strength  is  made 
perfect  in  weakness." 
Feb.  11,  1883. 


THE  EECTIFYING  INFLUENCE   OF  THE 
SANCTUARY. 

Psalm  Ixxiii.  16,  17.  When  I  thought  to  know  this,  it  was  too 
painful  for  me,  until  I  went  into  the  sanctuary  of  God  ;  then  under- 
E  tood  I  their  end. 

Theee  has  been  some  little  difference  of  opinion 
among  expositors  as  to  the  precise  reference  of  the 
word  here  translated  "  sanctuary."  Literally,  it 
means  "  the  holies  "  of  God ;  and  so  it  may  be  taken 
either  as  the  holy  things  or  the  holy  places  of  God. 
A  few  would  understand  it  in  the  first  sense  as  desig- 
nating "  the  righteous  plans  of  God's  government,"  or 
"the  secret  grounds  of  his  dealings  with  men;"  while 
others  would  take  it,  in  the  second  sense,  as  denoting 
*'  the  eternity  where  God  dwells  as  in  a  holy  place." 
But  to  me  it  seems  self-evident  that  by  "  going  into 
the  sanctuary  of  God,"  in  this  seventeenth  verse,  the 
writer  describes  the  same  exercise  which  in  the 
twenty-eighth  verse  he  has  called  "  a  drawing  near 
to  God ; "  and  so,  in  the  mouth  of  one  belonging  to 
the  old  disjDensation,  the  primary  reference  of  the 
term  must  be  to  the  temple,  which  was  the  earthly 
residence  of  God  and  the  place  where  he  communed 
with  his  jDeople.  Thus  understood,  tbe  main  drift  and 
teaching  of  the  psalm,  as  a  whole,  is  that  in  approach- 
ing God  through  the  recognized  channels  of  access 
unto  him,  and  in  appropriating  him  to  himself,  Asaph 
found  the  antidote  which  neutralized  the  poison  of 
the  insidious  temptation  by  which  he  had  been  almost 
destroyed. 


326   THE  EECTimNG  INFLUENCE  OF  THE   SANCTUAEY. 

"What  that  temptation  was  lias  been  most  grapliic- 
ally  described  by  himself.  He  liad  been  greatly 
disturbed  by  tlie  anomalies  wliicli  were  continually 
occurring  in  the  world  around  him.  He  had  seen 
the  wicked  so  often  prosperous  and  the  righteous 
so  often  in  distress  that  he  was  almost  ready  to  con- 
clude that  God  was  unrighteous,  and  that  it  made  no 
matter  how  a  man  lived ;  or  rather,  perhaps,  that  it 
would  be  better  for  him  to  become  unscrupulous  too. 
But  when  he  entered  into  the  sanctuary  and  took  in  all 
the  revelation  made  there  through  sacrifice  and  sym- 
bol, he  was  enabled  so  Co  grasjD  anew  the  truth  that 
God  is  righteous,  and  so  to  appropriate  the  God  of  the 
mercy  seat  as  his  own  God  as  to  find  there  the  com- 
pensation for  all  his  privations  and  the  solvent  for  all 
his  perplexities.  For  thus  he  sings  :  "  Nevertheless 
I  am  continually  with  thee.  "Whom  have  I  in  heaven 
but  thee  ?  and  there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire 
besides  thee."  As  if  he  had  said  :  "  Whatever  else  I 
may  be  without,  yet  I  have  thee  for  the  strength  of 
my  heart  and  my  portion  forever  ;  and  having  that,  I 
have  infinitely  more  than  wicked  men  possess,  even  in 
their  highest  prosperity,  so  that  I  am  delivered  from 
all  envy  of  them  and  lifted  out  of  all  distrust  of 
thee." 

Under  the  New  Testament  dispensation,  the  true 
antitype  of  the  temple  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in 
whom  the  real  Shekinah  dwells,  for  he  is  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh  ;  so  that  the  right  gospel  use  of  such 
a  text  as  this  would  be  to  show  that  when  by  faith 
we  enter  into  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  have  the  true 
corrective  influence,  by  which  we  are  enabled  to  rec- 
tify the  false  judgments  of  the  world  and  to  jjreserve 
our  faith  in  God,  amid  all  the  perplexities  that  sug- 
gest themselves  when  we  look  at  the  course  of  things 


THE  RECTIFYING  INFLUENCE   OF  THE   SANCTUAEY.    327 

upon  the  earth.  But  as,  in  tlie  sanctuary  commonly 
so-called  among  us,  the  sincere  worshiper  seeks  thus 
believingly  to  enter  in  to  Christ,  we  may,  without 
any  hesitation,  apply  the  words  of  the  psalmist  hero 
to  that ;  and  in  a  day  when  so  many  criticisms  are 
made  upon  public  worship,  it  may  be  useful  to  set 
distinctly  before  you  what  I  may  call  the  rectifying 
influence  of  the  sanctuary  on  those  who  regularly  and 
devoutly  enter  it  on  the  first  day  of  the  week.  Of 
course  I  must  take  for  granted  that  the  worshi]3  of 
the  sanctuary  is  such  as  to  bring  us  near  to  God.  I 
do  not  enter  now  on  the  discussion  of  those  things 
which  are  best  adapted  to  secure  that  end.  I  must 
postulate  that  the  hymns  of  praise  which  are  sung  are 
such  as  carry  up  the  tribute  of  our  hearts  to  God; 
that  the  prayers  which  are  offered  are  such  as  lead  us 
into  the  very  secret  place  of  the  Almighty,  and  that 
the  discourses  delivered  are  such  as  clearly  explain 
and  cogently  enforce  the  word  of  God — in  short,  that 
the  services  are  such  as  to  bring  us  from  first  to  last 
face  to  face  with  God,  as  he  has  revealed  himself  to 
us  through  the  written  word  and  through  the  living 
Christ.  Now,  my  assertion  is  that  in  the  sanctuary, 
thus  understood,  there  is  a  rectifying  influence  which 
corrects  the  errors  into  which,  from  his  close  and  con- 
stant intercourse  with  worldly  men,  the  Christian  is 
apt  to  fall.  That  this  is  true  will  appear  if  you  look 
at  the  matter  from  one  or  two  different  points  of 
view : 

I.  Take  it,  first,  as  it  bears  upon  the  standards  of 
judgment  commonly  in  use  among  men.  Nothing  is 
clearer  than  that  the  maxims  of  the  Lord  Jesus  are 
in  almost  all  respects  opposed  to  those  that  are  most 
popular   in  the  world.      Now,  when  a  man   accepts 


328  THE   EECTIFYING   INFLUENCE    OF   THE    SANCTUARY. 

liim  as  his  Redeemer,  Lawgiver,  and  King,  lie  declares 
that  he  is  determined  to  be  ruled  in  all  respects  by 
the  principles  of  Christ.  No  doubt,  too,  when  he 
makes  that  declaration  he  is  sincere.  But  in  his 
daily  business  he  is  thrown  continually  among  those 
who  consider  that  the  laws  of  his  Lord  are  fanatical, 
or  impracticable,  or  ridiculous,  and  who  tell  him  that 
if  he  is  determined  to  act  upon  them,  he  may  as 
well  make  up  his  mind  to  be  defeated  in  the  race 
of  competition.  More  than  that,  his  observation  con- 
vinces him  that  as  things  now  are  their  assertion  is 
largely  true ;  and  so,  as  the  days  go  on,  he  is  in 
danger  of  being  lowered  to  their  leveL  But  the  Sab- 
bath comes,  and  he  enters  into  the  sanctuary,  where 
he  is  confronted  with  God,  and  then  and  thereby  all 
the  webs  of  sophistry  that  his  fellow  men  have  spun 
are  swept  away  as  easily  as  one  brushes  from  his  path 
the  gossamer  of  the  morning.  Did  you  ever  see  a 
vessel  swung  for  the  purpose  of  having  her  compass 
adjusted  ?  The  process,  as  carried  on  in  the  river 
Thames  in  England,  is  something  like  this.  The  ship 
is  mpved  in  the  bight  at  Greenhithe,  and  by  means 
of  warps  attached  to  certain  buoys  she  is  turned 
with  her  head  toward  various  points  one  after 
another.  The  bearing  of  the  compass  on  board,  in- 
fluenced as  that  is  by  the  atti'action  of  the  iron  of 
which  she  is  composed,  or  which  she  carries,  is  ac- 
curately noted  by  some  one  appointed  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  the  true  bearing  is  signaled  to  him  by 
another  observe^  on  shore,  who  has  a  compass  out  of 
reach  of  all  local  disturbance.  The  error  in  each 
position  is  ascertained,  and  the  necessary  corrections 
are  made.  Now,  it  is  just  similar  with  Christ  and 
the  devout  worshijDer  in  the  sanctuary.  During  the 
week  the  consciences  even  of  the  best  among  us  have 


THE  RECTIFYING  INFLUENCE   OF  THE   SANCTUARY.   £29 

been  more  or  less  affected  by  tilings  immediately 
around  us,  so  that  we  are  in  danger  of  making  serious 
mistakes  in  our  life  voyage.  But  here  Christ  comes 
to  us  and  gives  us  our  "  true  bearings,"  as  they  are 
in  the  standard  of  his  word,  undisturbed  by  any 
earthly  or  metallic  influences,  and  so  the  needful  rec- 
tifications may  be  made  by  us  and  we  may  start  out 
afresh. 

But,  to  take  one  or  two  particular  illustrations,  let  us 
look  at  the  judgment  which  Christ  gives  of  wealth,  and 
see  how  much  there  is  in  that  to  rectify  the  current 
opinion.  With  many — may  I  not  say  with  most — 
wealth  is  the  supreme  good.  They  estimate  every- 
thing by  the  money  scale.  They  subordinate  every- 
thing to  the  acquisition  of  a  fortune.  They  live  and 
move  and  have  their  being  mainly  to  get  riches,  and 
even  when  that  is  not  the  case,  yet  there  is  in  the  air 
around  them  such  a  deference  to  money,  altogether 
irrespective  of  the  means  by  which  it  has  been  ac- 
quired, that,  almost  insensibly  to  themselves,  they 
become  infected  with  the  same  spirit.  Now  see  what 
Christ's  standard  says  on  this  subject.  He  does  not 
allege  that  wealth  is  a  thing  to  be  despised,  but  he 
dethrones  it  from  its  position  of  supremacy  to  one  of 
inferior  importance.  He  shows  that  it  is  not  the  great 
end  to  be  sought,  but  at  the  best  only  a  means  which 
maybe  made  conducive  to  the  furtherance  of  that  end. 
He  declares  most  emphatically  that  "  a  man's  life  con- 
sisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  which  he 
possesseth,"  but  in  those  inner  treasures  which  the 
world  can  neither  give  nor  take  away.  Hear  these 
words  :  "  The  ground  of  a  certain  rich  man  brought 
forth  plentifully,  and  he  thought  within  himself,  say- 
ing, 'What  shall  I  do  because  I  have  no  room  where  to 
bestow  my  fruits  ?  '  and  he  said,  '  This  will  I  do  :  I 


330  THE  RECTIFYING  INFLUENCE   OF  THE   SANCTUAEY.    • 

will  pull  down  my  barns  and  build  greater,  and  there 
will  I  bestow  my  fruits  and  my  goods,  and  I  will  say 
to  my  soul,  Soul,  thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for 
many  years ;  take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink  and  be 
merry.'  "  Now  mark  what  was  wrong  in  all  that. 
The  evil  was  not  that  he  had  so  much,  but  that  he 
had  nothing  else.  His  error  was,  not  that  he  had  well 
considered  what  he  should  do  with  his  goods,  but  that 
he  had  never  considered  what  he  should  do  with  him- 
self. In  the  filling  of  his  barns  he  had  starved  his 
spiritual  nature,  and  when  death  deprived  him  of  his 
earthly  fruits  he  discovered  that  he  had  nothing  left. 
Hence  God  said  to  him :  "  Thou  fool !  this  night  thy 
soul  shall  be  required  of  thee,  then  whose  shall  those 
things  be  which  thou  hast  provided  ?  So,"  adds  the 
Saviour,  "is  he  that  layeth  up  treasure  for  himself, 
and  is  not  rich  toward  God."  There  it  is — to  be  rich 
toward  God — that  is  the  true  aim  of  life.  To  have  a 
heart  at  jDeace  with  God,  a  soul  renewed  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  a  life  devoted  to  the  service  of  God ;  that  is  to 
be  rich  indeed.  "With  that  a  man  will  take  care  how 
he  seeks  earthly  wealth,  and  will  know  how  best  to 
spend  it  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  service  of  his 
generation  ;  without  that,  no  matter  how  much  of  this 
world's  goods  he  may  possess,  he  has  missed  the  great 
purpose  of  his  being.  My  hearer,  what  does  your 
conscience  say  to  that  ?  Look  in  and  see,  and  if  it  has 
been  deflected  by  the  metallic  influences  round  you 
during  the  week,  be  sure  that  you  correct  it  now,  lest, 
like  the  fool  in  the  parable,  you  should  make  ship- 
wreck at  the  last. 

But,  as  another  illustration,  look  at  the  Saviour's 
standard  of  greatness.  Men  generally  connect  that 
with  23ower.  That  which  raises  one  above  his  fellows 
and  gives  him  some  advantage  over  them  for  his  own 


THE  EECTIFYINa  INFLUENCE   OF  THE   SANCTUAEY.   331 

honor  or  aggrandizement,  is,  in  the  estimation  of  the 
world,  greatness.  It  is  a  thing  of  personal  pre- 
eminence, making  others  minister  to  its  comfort  or 
state  ;  and  so  it  comes  to  be  sought  by  the  individual 
for  his  own  sake,  and  not  for  that  of  others.  But 
when  we  get  near  to  Christ  in  the  sanctuary,  we  dis- 
cover that  his  estimate  is  entirely  different.  You 
remember  what  he  said  to  James  and  John  when, 
through  their  mother,  they  presented  the  request  that 
they  might  sit,  one  on  his  right  hand  and  the  other 
on  his  left  hand,  in  his  glory.  He  did  not  affirm  that 
it  was  wrong  to  seek  after  greatness.  He  knew  the 
nature  which  God  had  given  to  men  too  well  to  do 
anything  like  that.  But,  as  in  the  case  of  wealth,  we 
have  just  seen  that  he  gave  a  new  definition  to  riches, 
and  said,  "Seek  to  acquire  such  treasure  as  will  make 
you  rich  toward  God,"  so  here  he  gave  a  new  direction 
to  ambition  by  making  greatness  consist  in  service. 
"Te  know,"  said  he,  "that  they  which  are  accounted 
to  rule  over  the  Gentiles  exercise  lordship  over 
them,  and  their  great  ones  exercise  authority  upon 
them,  but  so  shall  it  not  be  among  you ;  but  whoso- 
ever will  be  great  among  you  shall  be  your  minister, 
and  whosoever  of  you  will  be  the  chiefest  shall  be 
servant  of  all.  For  even  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to 
be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister  and  to  give  his  life 
a  ransom  for  many."  Thus  to  those  who  are  filled 
with  the  love  of  greatness,  the  Lord  preaches  the 
greatness  of  love,  and  to  those  who  are  enamored  of  the 
service  which  authority  commands  he  reveals  the  in- 
fluence which  service  ultimately  secures ;  while,  with 
a  sublime  egotism  only  to  be  explained  by  his  con- 
sciousness of  deity,  he  holds  himself  up  as  the  bright- 
est exemplification  of  his  own  j)rinciple.  Now,  here 
again,  what  does  our  conscience  say  ?     Each  of  us  is 


332   THE  EECTIFYING  INFLUENCE   OF  THE   SANCTUARY. 

striving  after  some  greatness ;  so  mucli  is  natural ;  but 
is  the  greatness  after  which  we  are  striving  of  this 
self-sacrificing  sort  ?  or  is  it  selfish  and  self-seeking  ? 
Search  and  see,  and  if  you  have  lowered  your  standard 
before  the  world's  opinion,  see  that  you  rectify  the 
mistake  here  and  now.  It  is  one  great  purpose  of  the 
sanctuary  service  to  secure  such  a  result.  Here  is  the 
standard.  The  highest  of  all  is  the  servant  of  the 
lowest  of  all,  and  the  test  of  greatness  in  a  man,  ac- 
cording to  the  estimate  of  Christ,  is  not,  how  much 
does  he  know  ?  or  how  much  does  he  possess  ?  or  what 
office  does  he  hold  ?  or  what  power  does  he  wield  ? 
but  what  service  has  he  rendered  to  his  generation  by 
the  will  of  God  ?  Ah,  if  human  competition  were  to 
be  as  eager  for  the  prize  in  that  as  it  is  for  pre- 
eminence in  other  matters,  how  much  better  would  it 
be  for  the  world  at  large,  and  for  the  prize-takers 
themselves ! 

But,  to  mention  only  one  thing  more  under  this  head  : 
take  the  matter  of  success,  and  see  how  Christ,  in  the 
sanctuary,  rectifies  the  views  of  men  regarding  that. 
When  we  speak  of  success  we  are  prone  to  think  of  it 
as  a  merely  outward  thing.  The  successful  merchant 
is  one  who  has  built  wp  a  large  business  and  acquired 
a  fortune.  The  successful  author  is  One  who  has  ob- 
tained the  ear  of  the  public  so  that  his  works  are  cir- 
culated in  thousands,  and  he  becomes  honored  and 
wealthy  as  the  result.  The  successful  statesman  is 
one  who  comes  to  be  the  recognized  leader  of  his  party 
and  is  everywhere  acknowledged  as  its  ablest  man. 
And  so  on  in  every  other  department.  To  such  an 
extent  is  this  true  that  we  have  books  on  "  Self  Help  " 
and  "How  to  Succeed,"  and  the  like,  detailing  the 
steps  by  which  some  have  risen  from  the  very  lowest 
round  of  the  ladder  to  the  very  highest.  And  I  do  not 
•wish  to  depreciate  such  works;  they  have  a  value  of 


THE  EECTIFYING  ESTFLUENCE   OP  THE   SANCTUARY.    333 

their  own  in  their  own  place  ;  but  the  success  which 
they  depict  is  not  the  true  success  in  life,  as  Christ 
has  defined  success.  For  tried  by  such  a  standard 
his  own  life  must  be  pronounced  a  failure,  and  we  all 
know  that  it  was  anything  but  that.  Success,  in  his 
view  is  in  character,  in  the  drinking  of  the  cup  which 
he  drank  of,  and  in  the  being  baptized  with  the  bap- 
tism wherewith  he  was  baptized ;  and  one  may  attain 
that  while  yet,  in  a  worldly  j)oint  of  view,  he  may  be 
so  poor  as  to  have  nowhere  to  lay  his  head.  Show  me 
the  man,  therefore,  who,  as  he  has  tried  to  mount  the 
ladder  of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  lias  been  ever- 
more beat  back  and  beat  down — the  man  whose  life 
has  been  apparently  one  long  struggle  with  difficulties, 
but  who,  in  spite  of  all,  has  become  only  the  sweeter 
and  the  purer  in  the  process — who  has  kept  all  his 
tenderness  in  disposition  toward  his  fellows,  because 
he  has  retained  his  faith  in  God — who  has  learned  in 
and  through  and  by  means  of  all  his  struggles  to  hold 
more  freely  by  God's  hand  and  cling  more  closely  to 
Christ's  cross,  and  walk  more  in  accordance  with 
Christ's  example — and  I  tell  you  that  man's  life  has 
been  a  success,  even  though  there  has  been  no  external 
accumulation  of  property.  There  is  the  success  of  the 
unsuccessful ;  and  I  would  we  could  have  nowadays  a 
little  more  of  that ;  for  character  is  nobler  than  any 
outward  thing — yea,  is  the  only  thing  that  will  remain 
when  we  shall  stand  naked  and  open  before  the  eyes 
of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do.  Here  again,  then, 
let  us  look  in  and  ask  ourselves  what  that  is  which  we 
account  success ;  and  if  we  have  been  adopting  the 
worldly  ideal,  let  us  unlearn  our  mistake  and  accept 
the  corrective  which  the  sanctuary  su23plies  in  Christ. 
It  was  well  said  by  Dr.  Mark  Hopkins,  at  the  funeral 
of  one  of  our  noblest  philanthropists  some  weeks  ago, 
that  what  we  most  of  all  need  in  these  days  is  "  the  rec- 


334  THE   RECTIFYING  ENTLUENCE  OF  THE   SANCTUAET. 

tification  of  our  standards."  Let  us  tlierefore  to-day 
receive  the  spirit  of  Christ  into  our  hearts,  that  we 
may  judge  according  to  his  estimates ;  for  if  the  stand- 
ards be  wrong,  everything  must  be  wrong,  according  to 
that  saying  of  his  own,  "  The  light  of  the  body  is  the 
eye  ;  if,  therefore,  thine  eye  be  single,  thy  whole  body 
shall  be  full  of  light ;  but  if  thine  eye  be  evil,  thy  whole 
body  shall  be  full  of  darkness.  If,  therefore,  the  light 
that  is  in  thee  be  darkness,  how  great  is  that  dark- 
ness ?  "  Divine  Illuminator,  open  our  eyes,  that  "  in 
thy  light  we  may  see  light  clearly !  " 

II.  But  proceeding  now  to  another  department  of 
the  subject,  let  us  look  at  the  rectifying  influence  of 
the  sanctuary  on  what  I  may  call  the  perspective  of 
life.  Standing  close  up  to  our  work,  the  thing  which 
we  are  doing  at  the  moment  is  apt  to  grow  into  undue 
importance  in  our  minds,  to  the  inevitable  neglect  of 
other  and  greater  matters.  The  painter  needs  to  re- 
tire now  and  then  from  his  easel  in  order  that  he  may 
not  exaggerate  some  objects  and  diminish  others,  but 
may  put  each  in  its  proper  proportion ;  and  so  in  the 
sanctuary,  as  we  draw  near  to  God  in  Christ  we  learn 
to  give  its  relative  value  to  each  province  of  our  lives 
and  to  keep  each  in  its  own  j)lace.  The  Sabbath  is  a 
weekly  day  of  review ;  and  as  we  meet  Christ  in  the 
sanctuary,  everything  in  our  conduct  is  contemplated 
in  its  relation  to  him.  We  thus  discover  whether  or 
not  we  have  been  allowing  things  material  to  exclude 
from  our  thoughts  things  spiritual,  or  have  been  let- 
ting the  means  take  the  place  which  belongs  only  to 
the  end.  Perhaps  the  devotional  has  unduly  prepon- 
derated over  the  active  ;  or,  what  is  much  more  likely, 
the  pressure  of  active  duties  has  crushed  contempla- 
tion and  devotion  into  a  corner,  and  while  we  have  been 


THE   RECTIFYING  INFLUENCE   OF  THE   SANCTUARY.   335 

busy  here  and  there  about  concerns  which  might  have 
been  postponed  without  detriment,  the  opportunity 
for  fellowship  with  Christ  in  the  closet  has  irrevocably 
gone.  The  ephemeral  pamphlet  has,  it  may  be,  over- 
laid for  us  the  enduring  word  of  God,  or  we  have  given 
to  society  and  amusement  hours  which  ought  to  have 
been  sacred  to  duty  or  filled  with  service.  But  now 
as  we  sit  here  in  the  presence  of  Christ,  and  feel  how 
little  we  have  to  bring  to  him  out  of  the  bygone  week, 
we  are  ashamed.  We  see  how  much  we  ought  to  have 
done  and  might  have  done,  which  yet  has  been  entirely 
neglected ;  and  the  experience  of  the  past  thus  becomes 
a  warning  for  the  future,  for  the  failures  of  last  week 
are  set  up  as  the  beacons  wherewith  we  mark  the  chan- 
nel of  the  next,  and  we  set  out  from  the  church  porch 
anew  with  the  determination  to  keep  closer  to  our  ideal 
than  ever  before.  Has  it  not  been  so  with  us  very  fre- 
quently in  the  past  ?  Do  we  not  feel  that  it  is  so  with  us 
now  ?  Even  with  the  Sabbath  and  the  sanctuary  our 
lives  are  poor  trailing  things  enough,  but  how  much 
more  so  would  they  be  if  we  had  not  weekly  the  recti- 
fying influence  of  which  I  speak  !  We  shall  fail  again, 
no  doubt,  this  week  as  we  did  the  last,  but  we  shall 
not  fall  quite  so  low  as  before,  and  the  next  Lord's  day 
will  lift  us  up  anew ;  and  so,  week  by  week,  we  shall  go 
on  rising  by  slow  degrees  into  the  measure  of  the  stat- 
ure of  the  perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  Mark  well, 
therefore,  the  things  on  which  you  cannot  look  with 
complacency  here  in  the  sanctuary,  that  you  may  avoid 
them  in  the  future  ;  and  if  you  have  been  giving  un- 
due predominance  to  any  matter,  let  the  revelation 
of  that  fact  administer  its  own  corrective  to  your 
heart. 

III.  But,  narrowing  in  to  a  conclusion  now,  let  me 


336  THE  BECTIFYING   INFLUENCE   OF  THE   SANCTUABY. 

note  finally  the  rectifying  influence  of  the  sanctuary  on 
the  estimate  which  we  form  of  the  relative  importance 
of  things  present  and  things  to  come.  When  we  draw 
near  to  Christ  here,  we  recognize  him  as  the  risen  and 
ascended  Lord  who  has  brought  life  and  immortality 
to  light,  and  who  has  gone  into  another  mansion  of 
the  Father's  house  to  prepare  a  place  for  his  peoj)le. 
In  this  way  we  bring  the  motives  of  eternity  to  bear 
upon  the  duties  of  time,  and  call  in  the  glories  of 
heaven  to  sustain  and  support  us  under  the  afflictions 
of  earth.  In  the  toil  and  trouble  of  daily  life  we  are 
too  apt  to  forget  the  issues  which  hang  upon  our  ex- 
istence here.  I  do  not  think  that  we  Christians  dwell 
as  much  on  heaven  in  our  meditations  as  we  ought  to 
do.  It  is  not  that,  like  Bunyan's  man  with  the  muck- 
rake, we  are  so  much  occupied  in  gathering  together  the 
refuse  of  earth  that  we  do  not  see  the  glorious  crown 
that  is  above  us  ;  but  that  we  are  so  engrossed  with 
the  j^resent  duty,  or  the  present  conflict,  or  the  present 
sufi'ering,  that  we  forget  to  look  before  us  into  the 
better  land.  We  desire  to  be  true  to  Christ,  and  yet 
so  occuj^ied  are  we  with  the  effort  that  we  neglect  to 
think  of  the  reward  that  is  in  store  for  us,  and  thus 
deprive  ourselves  of  much  comfort  and  insjDiration 
which  we  might  otherwise  have  enjoyed.  But  m  the 
sanctuary,  when  we  get  near  to  Christ,  we  have  heaven 
also  brought  nigh  to  us,  and  as  we  catch  a  glimpse  of 
its  glories,  our  afflictions  dwindle  into  insignificance, 
while  we  are  fired  by  the  joy  that  is  set  before  us  to 
make  more  strenuous  efforts  to  overcome  the  evil  that 
is  in  us,  and  to  endure  the  hardships  that  may  come 
upon  us.  Thus  Paul  says,  "If  so  be  that  we  suffer 
with  him  that  we  may  be  also  glorified  together,  for 
I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  not  are 
worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  which  shall  be  re- 


THE  EECTIFYING  INFLUENCE   OF  THE   SANCTUARY.   o37 

vealed  in  us ;"  and  again  :  "  Our  liglif  affliction,  whicli 
is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us  a  far  more  ex- 
ceeding and  eternal  weiglit  of  glory ;  while  we  look 
not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things 
which  are  not  seen ;  for  the  things  which  are  seen  are 
temporal,  but  tlie  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eter- 
nah"  It  was  said  by  a  great  British  statesman  on  one 
occasion  that  "  he  brought  in  the  new  world  to  restore 
the  balance  of  the  old,"  and  in  the  same  way  in  the 
sanctuary  the  Lord  Jesus  reconciles  us  to  the  present 
by  the  revelation  of  the  future.  Arg  we  weary  and 
heavy  laden,  suffering  under  long  continued  trials,  or 
pressed  by  grievous  burdens,  then  he  bids  us  look 
forward  and  upward  to  the  inheritance  "  that  is  incor- 
ruptible, undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,"  where 
"there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow  nor 
crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain ; "  and  he 
assures  us  that  in  a  little  while  we  shall  be  there. 
Are  Ave  wounded  in  the  constant  conflict  with  self,  and 
with  the  world  ?  and  do  we  cry  out  for  relief  ?  Is  the 
language  of  our  hearts  that  of  the  aged  believer  who 
exclaimed,  "Am  I  never  to  be  done  with  this  warfare  ? 
Is  there  to  be  no  victory — no  rest  ?  "  Then  he  lets  us 
see  the  vision  by  which  he  sustained  the  spirit  of  the 
early  Christians  amid  their  sorest  persecutions,  even 
that  of  "the  white-robed  throng  before  the  throne," 
and  as  we  gaze  with  rapture  on  the  sight  he  says  : 
"These  are  they  which  came  out  of  great  tribula- 
tion, and  have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them 
white  in  the  blood  of  the  lamb.  They  shall  hunger  no 
more,  neither  thirst  an}^  more  ;  neither  shall  the  sun 
light  on  them,  nor  au}^  heat.  For  the  lamb  which  is  in 
the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  feed  them  and  shall  lead 
them  unto  living  fountains  of  waters  ;  and  God  shall 
wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes."  So  he  encourages 
15 


338  THE   RECTIFYING   INELUENCE    OF  THE    SANCTUARY. 

US  to  be  faithful  even  unto  the  death,  and  gives  us 
assurance  of  ultimate  and  unending  triumph,  and  we 
go  back  again  to  renew  the  battle  of  life  with  eager- 
ness and  enthusiasm,  feeling  that  "  it  has  been  good 
for  us  to  draw  near  to  God." 

Thus  have  I  sought  to  set  before  you  as  briefly  and 
suggestively  as  possible  -the  rectifying  influence  of  the 
sanctuary  when  we  seek  sincerely  to  approach  Jesus 
in  it.  And  if  all  that  I  have  said  be  true,  then  two 
things  are  thereby  most  easily  accounted  for.  First, 
we  understand  at  once  how  it  comes  that  the  true 
Christian  "  loves  the  habitation  of  God's  house."  It 
meets  his  need.  It  rests  him  when  he  is  weary ;  it 
comforts  him  when  he  is  sorrowful ;  it  cheers  him 
when  he  is  desponding ;  it  reinvigorates  him  when  he 
is  faint,  and  in  the  hour  of  his  gladness  it  sanctifies  and 
elevates  his  joy.  His  week  to  him  is  robbed  of  its 
brightest  portion  when  he  has  not  been  able  to  begin 
it  in  the  house  of  God.  Something  has  been  lacking 
to  him  all  through  when  he  has  missed  the  sanctuary. 
He  has  been  conscious  of  less  spring  and  elasticity  in 
his  walk  because  he  has  been  deprived  of  what  one 
called  "  the  weekly  tonic  "  of  the  public  services  on  the 
Lord's  day.  It  is  not  the  ritual,  it  is  not  the  acces- 
sories of  music  and  fellowship  with  earthly  friends, 
that  so  invigorates  him,  but  it  is  the  drawing  near  to 
God,  the  having  of  his  spirit  reminted  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  the  having  of  his  conscience  rectified  by 
him  who  is  its  only  Lord.  This  lifts  him  up  and  sends 
him  on  with  new  fervor  and  enthusiasm  ;  and  he 
leaves  the  porch  of  the  sanctuary  after  such  a  time  of 
reinvigoration,  saying,  "  If  this  be  not  heaven  it  is  the 
way  to  it.  Blessed  are  they  that  dwell  in  thy  house ; 
they  will  be  still  praising  thee."  My  brethren,  do  I 
exaggerate   here  ?  or  is  it  not  rather  the  case  that 


THE  EECTIFTING  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  SANCTUAEY.   339 

you    are    ready    to     corroborate    and    confirm     my 
words  ? 

But  if  this  be  all  true,  tlien  we  come  to  understand 
in  the  second  place  how  it  is  that  so  many  dislike 
the  sanctuary.  Much  attention  has  been  recently 
directed  to  the  subject  of  church  attendance,  and 
only  a  week  or  two  ago  I  was  asked  to  write  a 
contribution  to  a  symposium  in  a  popular  review 
on  the  question  why  the  people  do  not  go  to  church. 
I  made  answer  at  once  that  the  pressing  duties 
of  my  daily  life  would  not  allow  me  to  give  any 
time  to  the  preparation  of  such  an  article ;  and  when, 
on  reading  the  paper  which  I  was  expected  to  criti- 
cise, I  found  that  it  was  an  indictment  of  ministers  for 
grievous  mistakes  in  their  manner  of  preaching,  and 
was  signed  by  one  who  called  himself  vauntingly  a 
"non-church-goer,"  I  was  confirmed  in  the  wisdom 
of  my  resolution  ;  for  if  a  man  does  not  go  to  church, 
what  does  he  know  of  that  which  goes  on  in  church, 
and  of  how  much  worth  is  his  criticism  on  it  ?  But, 
indeed,  there  is  no  mystery  in  the  case.  The  church, 
in  so  far  as  it  is  the  ordinance  of  Christ,  exists  for  the 
rectification  of  the  world's  standards,  and,  naturally, 
the  men  of  the  world  do  not  like  it.  They  must  come 
to  Christ  first,  and  then  there  will  be  no  dijfficulty 
about  the  sanctuary  ;  but  until  they  submit  themselves 
to  him  they  cannot  but  be  dissatisfied  with  it.  Suppose 
a  man  whose  great  object  in  life  is  to  amass  a  fortune 
should  come  into  the  house  of  God.  He  is  there  con- 
fronted with  the  principle  laid  down  by  the  Saviour, 
that  "  a  man's  life  doth  not  consist  in  the  abundance  of 
the  things  which  he  possesseth,"  and  therefore  one  or 
other  of  two  things  must  follow  ;  either  he  accepts  the 
maxim  of  the  Lord,  and  consents  to  reconstruct  his 
life  in  accordance  with  it ;  or  he  rejects  it,  and  goes 


340  THE   RECTIFYING  INFLUENCE   OP  THE   SANCTUARY. 

^way  railing  at  tlie  gospel  and  its  ministers.  In  Jike 
manner,  if  one  wlio  is  bent  on  acquiring  sucli  greatness 
as  shall  enable  him  to  command  the  services  of  others 
is  confronted  with  the  doctrine  that  to  be  the  greatest 
of  all  one  must  be  the  servant  of  all,  we  cannot  won- 
der that  he  rebels,  and  counts  the  sanctuary  a  weari- 
ness. Unless  he  is  prepared  to  accept  Christ  as  his 
redeemer  and  guide,  he  can  do  no  otherwise.  "  The 
natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spir- 
itually discerned."  The  critic  may  exclaim  against 
that  as  he  pleases.  He  may  call  it  fanaticism  or  mys- 
ticism, and  may  characterize  it  as  ridiculous,  but  it  is 
none  the  less  true,  and  it  contains  in  itself  the  explana- 
tion of  the  whole  matter.  Unless,  therefore,  we  con- 
sent to  alter  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  gospel 
to  suit  the  world's  fancy  we  must  be  content  to  hear 
such  fault-finding  to  the  end.  But  we  dare  not  think 
of  any  such  treason  to  the  Lord,  whose  messengers  we 
are  ;  and  so,  whether  we  speak  to  admiring  crowds  or 
not,  we  must  continue  to  expose  the  falseness  of  the 
world's  standard,  and  to  show  how  that  can  be  cor- 
rected in  Christ  alone.  Whether  men  hear,  therefore, 
or  whether  they  will  forbear,  this  is  our  determina- 
tion ;  and  though  the  self-styled  "  leaders  "  of  the  pres- 
ent generation  may  sneer  at  us  for  our  lack  of  appre- 
ciation of  their  culture,  and  for  our  failure  to  comply 
with  their  demands,  we  know  that  a  day  is  coming 
when  our  vindication  shall  be  complete. 
April  15,  1883. 


THE  EESPONSIBILITIES  OF  LIFE. 

Romans  xiv.  7.     For  none  of  us  livetli  to  himself. 

These  words  may  be  regarded  by  us  in  tliree  differ- 
ent lights,  each  of  which  will  be  found  to  bring  out 
vividly  before  us  some  important  practical  truth  ;  and 
as  the  illustration  and  enforcement  of  these  will 
require  all  the  time  at  my  disposal,  I  shall  proceed  at 
once,  without  any  formal  introduction,  to  the  work 
which  I  have  taken  in  hand. 

I.  Let  us  look  at  the  text  then,  in  the  first  place,  as 
it  is  interpreted  for  us  by  the  section  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans  in  which  it  is  found.  That  section  is 
devoted  to  the  elucidation  of  the  principles  by  which 
the  early  Christians  were  to  be  guided  as  to  their 
observance  or  non-observance  of  particular  festival 
days,  and  as  to  their  abstinence  or  non-abstinence 
from  certain  kinds  of  meats  and  drinks.  To  under- 
stand the  matter  fully  we  must  haA-e  a  clear  percep- 
tion of  the  difficulty  with  which  the  Apostle  was 
seeking  to  deal.  In  those  times,  living  as  they  were 
in  the  midst  of  paganism,  the  Gentile  Christians  were 
frequently  invited  to  feasts  at  which  meat  was  served 
which  had  been  offered  to  an  idol.  Some  partook  of 
it  without  any  hesitation,  believing  as  Paul  himself 
did,  that  "  an  idol  was  nothing  in  the  world,"  and  that 
nothing  was  "  unclean  of  itself."  Others  having  less 
enlightened  and  more  scrupulous  consciences  refused 
to  touch  it,  believing  that  if  they   did  eat  it  they 


342  THE   RESPONSIBILITIES    OF  LIFE. 

■would  be  guilty  of  countenancing  idolatry.  The 
Jewish,  converts,  again,  were  divided  on  the  question 
of  the  observance  of  their  national  feasts.  Some  of 
them  maintained  their  old  habits  in  the  matter  of 
these  Mosaic  appointments,  and  others  contented 
themselves  with  the  simple  keeping  of  the  Lord's  day. 
All  of  them  relied  upon  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  for 
justification,  and  therefore  are  to  be  carefully  distin- 
guished from  those  against  whom  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians  was  written,  and  who  insisted  on  circum- 
cision as  essential  to  salvation.  No  vital  principle  in 
this  instance  was  at  stake.  The  error  of  the  scrupu- 
lous was  that  of  asceticism  and  not  that  of  legalism ; 
and  so  the  AjDOstle  here  counsels  mutual  forbearance. 
He  condemns  everything  like  intolerance  and  recrimi- 
nation. Those  who  had  attained  to  svich  breadth  of 
view  that  they  felt  no  difficulty  about  eating  anything 
that  was  set  before  them,  Avere  not  to  arrogate  to 
themselves  superiority  over  those  who  felt  no  such 
liberty ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  those  whose  con- 
sciences would  not  allow  them  to  partake  of  every  sort 
of  food  were  not  to  condemn  such  as  had  no  scruples 
on  the  matter.  The  Jewish  believer  who  kept  all  the 
festivals  of  his  nation  was  not  to  look  upon  himself  as 
better  than  he  who  observed  only  the  Christian 
festival  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  ;  and  neither  were 
they  whose  strength  of  mind  had  raised  them  above 
such  things  to  depise  those  who  still  considered  that 
they  were  important.  There  was  to  be  an  agreement 
between  them  to  difier  in  love  ;  and  if  in  any  case  the 
exercise  of  his  undoubted  liberty  by  one  should 
seriously  imperil  the  spiritual  welfare  of  another  by 
leading  him  to  commit  sin,  then  that  liberty  was  to 
be  cheerfully  sacrificed  in  order  that  a  brother  should 
not  be  destroyed,  for  "  the  kingdom  of  God  "  was  not 


THE   BESPONSIBILITIES   OF  LIFE.  343 

a  thing  of  "  meats  and  drinks,"  but  of  "  righteousness 
and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Now  the  ground  on  which  these  injunctions  were 
based  was,  that  each  believer — if  he  were  a  believer 
at  all — was  living,  not  unto  himself,  but  unto  Christ. 
"None  of  ^<s,"  says  the  Apostle,  "liveth  unto  himself." 
However  it  may  be  with  others,  none  of  us  Christians 
liveth  unto  himself.  Each  of  us  has  accepted  Christ 
as  his  Redeemer  and  Lord  and  is  seeking  in  all  things 
to  serve  him ;  so  if  one  eateth,  he  eateth  unto  the 
Lord ;  and  if  another  eateth  not,  he  eateth  not  unto 
the  Lord.  Each  of  us  follows  Christ  as  his  Master  ; 
therefore,  in  all  such  things  we  must  not  judge  each 
other,  but  rather  judge  that  "  no  man  put  a  stumbling 
block  or  an  occasion  to  fall  in  his  brother's  way." 
One  man  is  not  to  be  condemned  by  another  for  that 
which  he  does  in  the  exercise  of  conscientious  Chric- 
tian  liberty ;  and  yet,  liberty  to  be  Christian  must  be 
conditioned  by  love,  so  that  we  ought  to  forego  even 
that  which  we  feel  free  to  engage  in,  if  our  indulgence 
in  it  should  be  the  means  of  a  brother's  falling  into 
sin.  Thus  the  principle  here  enforced  is  precisely 
the  same  as  that  laid  down  by  the  Apostle  in  his 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  wlien  he  says  :  "  All  things 
are  lawful  for  me ;  but  all  things  are  not  expedient." 
Because  we  are  seeking  to  live  to  Christ,  there  is,  in 
reference  to  all  matters  indifferent,  perfect  liberty  to 
the  individual  conscience,  and  no  one  has  a  right  to 
judge  or  set  at  naught  another  for  dor^g  that  of  which 
he  is  "  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind,"  and  which  he 
is  seeking  to  do  "  as  unto  the  Lord."  Each  is  respon- 
sible not  to  his  fellows  but  unto  the  Lord ;  and  while 
we  may  try  to  enlighten  the  consciense  of  another  and 
bring  him  to  see  precisely  as  we  do,  we  must  not  subject 
him  to  ridicule,  or  insult,  or  reproach,  or  hold  him  up 


344  THE  RESPONSIBILITIES   OF  LITE. 

in  any  measure  to  contempt,  for  doing  ttat  whicli  lie 
believes  to  be  right.  "  To  his  own  master  he  standeth 
or  falleth."  Conscience  is  the  inner  sanctuary  of  the 
human  temple,  and  into  that  may  enter  only  the  Great 
High  Priest  who  has  made  atonement  for  the  world's 
guilt,  and  who  alone  "  can  purge  it  from  dead  works 
to  serve  the  living  God."  It  behooves  us,  therefore,  to 
keep  every  unhallowed  intruder  out  of  that  sacred 
domain,  to  stand  up  for  our  liberty  in  things  indiffer- 
ent, and  so  long  as  we  maintain  loyalty  to  Christ  in 
his  revealed  word,  to  insist  that  no  man  shall  judge  us 
in  respect  to  those  matters  of  custom  or  conformity 
which  are  not  in  themselves  sinful,  and  in  regard  to 
which  we  take  that  course  which  seems  to  us  to  be 
most  honoring  to  the  Lord  we  love.  Only  let  us  see  to 
it  that  we  are  taking  it  for  the  Lord's  sake  and  not 
simply  and  solely  for  our  own  gratification.  That  is 
the  one  side  of  the  subject. 

But  there  is  another  which  is  equally  important ; 
for  the  liberty  being  maintained,  the  question  of  love 
then  comes  into  operation.  If  I  live  to  Christ  and 
not  to  self,  then  I  live  also  to  Christians,  for  they  are 
one  with  him.  I  cannot  be  true  to  him  if  I  am  incon- 
siderate of  them.  Therefore,  though  I  may,  nay,  must 
assert  my  liberty,  yet,  if  my  exercise  of  that  liberty 
should  seriously  wound  my  brother's  heart,  I  shall 
be  acting  uncharitably  if  I  insist  on  carrying  it  out. 
"  I  know  and  am  persuaded  by  the  Lord  Jesus,"  says 
Paul,  "  that  there  is  nothing  unclean  of  itself,  but  if 
thy  brother  be  grieved  with  thy  meat,  now  walkest 
thou  not  charitably*  Destroy  not  him  with  thy  meat 
for  whom  Christ  died."  Nay,  even  more  strongly,  if 
thy  brother  is  led  into  sin  through  the  exercise  of  thy 
liberty,  if  he  thereby  stumbleth,  or  is  made  weak, 
or  is  offended — not  in  the  sense  of  being  displeased, 


THE  EESPONSIBILITIES  OF  LIFE.  345 

but  in  that  of  being  made  to  stumble — then  the 
Christian  course  is  for  thee  to  sacrifice  thy  liberty 
for  love  of  him,  even  as  Christ  pleased  not  him- 
self that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity ;  or 
as  Paul  has  put  it  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians 
(I  quote  from  the  Ee vised  Version),  "  Give  no  occasion 
of  stumbling,  either  to  Jews,  or  Greeks,  or  to  the 
church  of  God ;  even  as  I  also  please  all  men  in  all 
things,  not  seeking  mine  own  profit,  but  the  profit  of 
the  many  that  they  may  be  saved ;  be  ye  imitators  of 
me,  even  as  I  also  am  of  Christ."  Here  then  are  the 
two  principles ;  first,  that  things  non-essential  or  in- 
different are  to  be  determined  by  each  for  himself  in 
the  exercise  of  individual  liberty  and  as  unto  Christ, 
and  that  no  one  is  to  judge  another  for  his  determina- 
tion, since  none  of  us  liveth  unto  himself,  but  unto 
Christ,  and  each  is  responsible  to  him  alone;  and 
second,  that  while  the  right  to  this  liberty  is  inalienable 
and  may  not  be  yielded  on  any  ground,  the  acting  on 
it  is  conditioned  by  the  effect  of  our  conduct  on  the 
brotherhood  of  believers,  so  that  if  it  should  provoke 
evil  and  not  good,  or  give  occasion  to  the  falling  of 
others  into  sin,  we  should  abstain  from  carrying  it 
into  exercise,  since  "None  of  us  liveth  unto  him- 
self," but  the  actions  of  each  affect  the  welfare  of  the 
brotherhood  to  which  all  alike  belong. 

Now  the  application  of  these  principles  to  modern 
things  is  too  obvious  to  need  remark.  In  regard  to  all 
matters  not  in  themselves  sinful,  the  conscience  of  each 
believer  is  at  liberty  to  judge  what  his  conduct  may  be  ; 
and  to  his  own  master  he  standeth  or  falleth.  "All" 
such  "  things  are  lawful."  But  while  it  would  be  quite 
expedient  to  do  certain  things  under  one  set  of  cir- 
cumstances, it  would  be  just  as  inexpedient  to  counte- 
nance them  in  another.  What  is  above  all  to  be 
15* 


846  THE   RESPONSIBILITIES   OP  LIFE. 

regarded  is  that  "  the  work  of  God "  shall  not  be 
"  overthrown "  either  by  the  uncharitable  judgments 
of  the  more  scrupulous,  or  the  inconsiderate  and 
inexpedient  exercise  of  their  liberty  by  the  more 
enlightened.  Not  our  own  pleasure,  but  rather  the 
glory  of  Christ,  and  the  edification,  and  peace,  and 
progress  of  the  brotherhood,  is  to  be  made  the  rule 
of  our  lives.  There  are  no  specific  prohibitions  in 
the  New  Testament,  except  of  such  things  as  are 
positive  sins  ;  and  in  regard  to  all  others  these  prin- 
ciples must  be  our  guides.  It  would  be  convenient 
no  doubt,  if  the  book  or  the  preacher  should  decide 
for  us  whether  we  should  go  to  particular  places,  or 
take  part  in  particular  amusements,  or  engage  in 
particular  practices  concerning  which  we  are  per- 
plexed; but  all  these  things  are  left  to  each  con- 
science— not  to  do  as  it  pleases,  but  to  take  the 
course  which  in  the  light  of  loyalty  to  Christ  and 
love  to  the  brethren,  seems  to  be  the  best ;  and  it  is  in 
the  decision  of  such  questions  for  ourselves,  that  we 
grow  into  strength  and  develop  into  true  Christian 
manliness.  Insist  upon  liberty  therefore  in  all  such 
matters,  but  let  the  exercise  of  that  liberty  in  every  case 
be  conditioned  by  love,  for  "  it  is  good  neither  to  eat 
flesh,  nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  to  do  any  thing  whereby 
thy  brother  stumbleth.  All  things  are  lawful,  but  all 
things  are  not  expedient ;  all  things  are  lawful,  but 
all  things  edify  not.  Let  no  man  seek  his  own,  but 
each  his  neighbor's  good,"  for  "  none  of  us  liveth 
unto  himself." 

II.  But  leaving  now  the  consideration  of  the  text  as 
it  is  interpreted  for  us  by  the  section  of  the  epistle  in 
which  it  is  found,  let  us  proceed  to  regard  it  more  gen- 
erally, in  the  second  place,  as  an  inevitable  condition 


THE   EESPONSreiLITIES   OF   LIFE.  347 

of  human  existence.  No  man's  life  terminates  on  him- 
self alone,  but  each  of  us  exerts  an  influence  through 
his  character  and  conduct  upon  all  with  whom  he  comes 
into  contact.  We  are  so  constituted,  and  have  been 
placed  in  such  circumstances,  that,  whether  we  are  con- 
scious of  it  or  not,  others  are  affected  by  our  actions 
and  example.  Those  nearest  us  are  in  a  greater  or  a 
smaller  measure  molded  by  what  we  are,  and  these 
again  have  a  like  influence  on  those  by  whom  they  are 
surrounded,  so  that  what  emanated  originally  from  us 
is  at  once  perpetuated  in  its  existence  and  amplified 
increasingly  in  its  range.  To  use  the  trite  illustration, 
just  as  the  stone  cast  into  the  pool  makes  undulations 
which  continually  widen  until  they  reach  the  edge,  so 
the  moral  force  generated  by  our  character  constantly 
widens  through  those  on  whom  it  operates.  It  would 
be  easy  to  illustrate  this  by  typical  instances  drawn 
from  the  pages  both  of  sacred  and  secular  history. 
Who  does  not  remember  how,  long  after  the  first  king 
of  Israel  had  gone  to  his  account,  the  sad  results  of  his 
idolatry  remained  active  in  the  land,  so  that  his  name 
never  occurs  without  the  appended  description,  "  the 
son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to  sin  ?  "  The  papacy 
to  this  day  bears  the  impress  of  the  mind  of  Hilde- 
brand,  and  almost  every  country  on  the  globe  has  felt 
the  effect  of  the  life  of  Ignatius  Loyola,  whose  succes- 
sors in  the  so-called  Society  of  Jesus  have  gone  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  The  same  is  true  of  the  great  re- 
formers of  the  sixteenth  century,  as  well  as  of  the 
pioneers  of  freedom  and  the  founders  of  our  nation. 
But  these  are  not  exceptional  cases.  True,  they  are 
the  cases  of  men  who  had  great  abilities  and  exalted 
opportunities,  and  therein  they  were  exceptional.  But 
these  abilities  and  opportunities  have  only  put,  as  it 
were,  in  their  case,  into  larger  type,  a  truth  which  holds 


3"48'  THE  EESPONSIBILITIES   OF  LIFE. 

of  every  man.  Influence  is  as  inseparable  from  character 
as  the  fragrance  is  from  the  flower  or  the  shadow  from 
the  substance.  Every  one  that  lives,  therefore,  lives  not 
merely  unto  himself,  but  has  a  subtle  effluence  always 
radiating  from  him  that  produces  some  effect  on  others. 
On  the  rocks  beneath  us  you  will  find  the  impress  of  the 
tiniest  insect  as  well  as  that  of  the  largest  megathe- 
rium ;  and  so  in  the  strata  of  society  each  man  has  his 
own  place  to  fill,  and  will  leave  his  own  mark  behind 
him  for  blessing  or  for  the  reverse.  A  little  Hebrew 
maid  in  the  house  of  Naaman  was  a  most  important 
factor  in  bringing  about  the  cure  of  that  great  captain's 
leprosy ;  and  often  yet  a  child's  tiny  hand  may  fire  the 
mine  that  shall  shake  down  even  granite  rocks. 

But,  to  come  nearer  ourselves,  think  how  true  it 
is  in  our  homes  that  "  none  of  us  liveth  unto  him- 
self." The  influence  of  parents  upon  their  children 
is  positively  incalculable ;  for  the  young  are  given 
to  imitation,  and  are  all  the  time  taking  on  a  living 
likeness  of  their  elders.  The  words  they  hear  and 
the  actions  they  see  day  by  day  have  all  a  power, 
and  though  they  may  pass  away  from  the  memories  of 
both,  they  will  live  permanently  in  their  results,  so  that 
parents  will  meet  their  children  at  the  bar  of  God  wear- 
ing the  characters  which  by  their  daily  lives  they  did  so 
much  to  fashion.  And  the  children,  too,  produce  very 
marked  and  indelible  effects  upon  their  parents,  while 
brothers  and  sisters  twine  around  each  other  like  run- 
ners up  the  wall,  so  that  for  every  bend  in  the  one 
there  is  a  corresponding  inclination  in  the  other,  and 
there  is  in  each  a  difference  from  what  might  have  been 
if  the  other  had  not  been  there.  In  like  manner  it  is 
true  of  friends  that  there  is  ever  going  on  between 
them  an  assimilating  process,  as  the  result  of  which 
they  become  like  each  other  in  tastes,  opinions  and 


THE   PiESPONSIBILITIES   OF  LIFE.  349 

habits,  Nathaniel's  friendship  with  Philip  was  the 
means  of  introducing  him  to  Jesus,  and  Jehoshaphat's 
comj)anionship  with  Aliab  placed  his  life  in  jeopardy 
that  day  in  the  field  of  Ramoth  Gilead.  So  still  the  in- 
timate associates  of  a  man  have  a  molding  influence 
on  each  other  and  on  him,  while  he  in  turn  is  helping 
to  form  them.  This  influence  on  others  is  what  I  have 
called  an  inevitable  condition  of  human  existence. 
We  cannot  rid  ourselves  of  it.  It  is  the  attendant 
shadow  of  each  life,  and  takes  its  shape  from  the  life. 
What  a  solemn  thing  it  is,  in  this  view  of  it,  to  live  ! 
It  is  to  be  continually  receiving  from  others,  and  as 
continually  giving  to  others.  How  careful,  therefore, 
we  ought  to  be  lest  we  should  be  contaminated  by 
others,  or  should  contribute  to  the  undoing  of  others  ! 
And  if  you  would  secure  yourselves  against  both  of 
these  dangers,  let  me  urge  you  to  seek  deliberately  and 
prayerfully  to  live  to  Christ.  Receive  him  into  your 
hearts,  and  he  will  keep  all  evil  out  of  them.  Retain 
him  in  your  hearts,  and  he  will  make  them  centers  out 
of  which  nothing  but  good  will  issue.  Watch  the  flower 
and  the  fragrance  will  take  care  of  itself.  Form  your 
character  after  the  pattern  of  Christ  and  your  influence 
will  be  always  Christian.  To  have  the  unconscious 
effluence  of  the  best,  you  must  have  the  conscious 
purpose  always  of  the  purest.  To  resist  the  evil 
you  must  retain  the  good.  The  moistened  hand  may 
hold  with  impunity  the  bar  of  white-hot  iron,  and  he 
who  is  bedewed  with  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
will  take  no  harm  from  those  of  the  ungodly  men  by 
whom  he  is  surrounded.  Nor  will  he  do  harm  to  any 
by  his  example,  but,  contrariwise,  that  may  be  like  the 
shadow  of  Peter,  which  healed  the  sick  ones  over 
which  it  passed.  Ah  !  how  momentous  the  thought 
that  each  of  us,  by  our  very  existence,  is  either  bless- 


350  THE  EESPONSIBILITIES   OF  LITE. 

ing  or  blighting  some  one  else,  according  as  our 
influence  is  good  or  evil !  Wliicli  is  it  ?  Make  haste 
and  see,  for  you  may  start  a  train  which  you  shall 
never  be  able  either  to  overtake  or  to  arrest,  and 
though  you  may  repent  and  return  to  God  yourself, 
that  other  whom  you  introduced  into  the  broad  way 
may  go  on  his  downward  course  and  end  in  destruc- 
tion !  Make  haste,  then,  and  see  whether  the  effect 
of  your  life  on  others  is  good  or  evil ;  and  if  it  be  evil, 
seek  forgiveness  and  renewal  at  the  hands  of  Christ. 

III.  But  now,  finally,  let  me  view  this  text  as  it 
expresses  the  deliberate  purpose  of  every  genuine 
Christian.  The  true  believer  forswears  self.  Other 
men,  in  one  form  or  other,  live  for  self.  They  seek 
their  own  pleasure,  or  their  own  interest,  or  their  own 
honor.  They  make  themselves  the  centers  of  all  their 
ambitions,  and  care  neither  for  other  men  nor  for 
God  when  their  personal  predilections  are  in  the  case. 
But  with  the  Christian  it  is  different.  And  it  is  differ- 
ent not  because  some  authority  outside  of  him  has 
said.  Thou  shalt  not  worship  self,  but  because  he  has 
of  his  own  motive,  and  out  of  love  to  Christ,  renounced 
self  and  accepted  Christ  as  the  God  of  his  heart  and 
the  sovereign  of  his  life.  Look  here,  for  illustration, 
to  the  case  of  the  Apostle  Paul  himself.  In  writing  to 
the  Philippians,  he  said,  "  To  me  to  live  is  Christ ; " 
and  in  his  second  letter  to  the  Corinthians  he  uses 
these  words  :  "  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us,  be- 
cause we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were 
all  dead,  and  that  he  died  for  all  that  they  which  live 
should  not  henceforth  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto 
him  which  died  for  them  and  rose  again."  So  also  to 
the  Galatians  he  says  :  "I  live,  yet  not  I  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me,"  while  in  the  very  next  verse  to  that  in 


THE   RESPONSIBILITIES   OF  LIFE.  351 

"which  the  text  for  this  morning  is  found,  he  affirms 
that,  "  whether  we  live,  we  live  unto  the  Lord  ;  whether 
we  die,  we  die  unto  the  Lord ;  whether  we  live,  there- 
fore, or  die,  we  are  the  Lord's."  Now  all  these  ex- 
pressions imply  that  Christ  had  taken  in  Paul  the 
place  which  was  formerly  occupied  by  self.  Where 
before  he  wrought  for  his  own  interest  or  glory  or 
position,  he  now  sought  Christ's  honor  and  labored 
for  the  advancement  of  his  cause  ;  or,  as  he  puts  it  in 
another  phrase,  "  what  things  before  were  gain  to  him, 
those  he  counted  loss  for  Christ."  He  felt  himself  so 
identified  with  Christ  that  his  own  interest  and  the 
Eedoemer's  glory  seemed  to  be  one  and  the  same.  He 
had  become,  as  it  were,  merged  in  Christ.  John  the 
Baptist  said,  on  a  memorable  occasion,  concerning 
Jesus  :  "  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease."  Now 
that  which  was  true  externally  of  John  was  true  in- 
ternally and  spiritually  of  Paul — the  self  in  the  apostle 
had  decreased,  and  the  Christ  in  him  had  increased, 
until  it  was  all  Christ  and  no  self,  so  that  in  every- 
thing he  did  his  dominating  motive  and  main  purpose 
were  to  honor  Christ.  In  judging  of  any  alternative 
put  before  him,  the  determining  element  always  was, 
"  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  "  "When  fashion 
was  on  one  side  and  Christ  on  the  other,  he  never 
hesitated,  for  now  the  approval  of  others  was  nothing 
to  him  in  comparison  with  the  commendation  of 
Christ ;  and  no  sinful  pleasure — even  in  the  days  be- 
fore his  conversion — had  for  him  a  tithe  of  the  enjoy- 
ment which  he  now  derived  from  the  consciousness 
that  he  was  serving  Christ  and  was  beloved  by  Christ. 
Now  it  is  the  same  with  every  real  Christian.  Fronj 
the  moment  of  his  conversion  his  whole  being  runsi 
Christward.  The  volume  of  the  river  may  be  small 
at  first,  but,  small  as  it  is,  its  direction  is  decided,  and 


35^  THE  RESPONSIBILITIES   OP  LIFE. 

it  gathers  magnitude  as  it  flows,  for  it  drains  tlie  val- 
ley of  liis  life.  He  keeps  himself  for  Christ,  because 
he  owes  everything  to  Christ.  He  realizes  that  he  has 
been  bought  with  a  price,  and  therefore  he  seeks  to 
glorify  Christ  in  his  body  and  his  spirit,  which  are 
his.  Duty  and  delight  now  coalesce  in  his  experience. 
That  which  he  ought  to  do,  and  that  which  he  finds 
happiness  in  doing,  are  now  to  him  identical,  and  his 
life  illustrates  the  beautiful  epigram  of  Philip  Dod- 
dridge, whose  family  motto,  "Dum  vivimus,  vivamus," 
was  thus  rendered  by  him  into  English  verse  : 

"  Live  while  you  live,  the  epicure  would  say, 
And  seize  the  pleasures  of  the  passing  day. 
Live  while  you  live,  the  sacred  preacher  cries. 
And  give  to  God  each  moment  as  it  flies. 
Lord,  in  my  view  let  both  united  be  ; 
I  live  in  pleasure  while  I  live  to  thee." 

Now,  this  determination  to  live  to  Christ  I  have  called 
the  deliberate  purpose  of  every  genuine  Christian,  for 
so  soon  as  a  man  believes  that  Jesus  Christ  loved 
him — gave  himself  for  him — he  is  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  give  himself  up  to  Christ,  and  then  discovers 

that 

"  A  life  of  self-renouncing  love 
Is  a  life  of  liberty." 

But  living  thus  to  Christ,  the  believer  lives  also  for 
his  fellow-men,  for  the  two  are  inseparable,  inasmuch 
as  the  great  principle  at  the  root  of  the  cross  is  the 
sacrifice  of  self  for  the  benefit  of  others  ;  and  Jesus 
himself  has  indicated  that  our  gratitude  to  him  should 
take  the  form  of  ministering  to  the  necessities  of 
others  for  his  sake.  He  bids  us  recognize  himself  in 
every  ignorant  one  whom  we  can  instruct,  in  every 
naked  one  whom  we  can  clothe,  in  every  hungry 
one  v/hom  we  can  feed,  iu  every  suffering  one  whom 


THE  RESPONSrBILITIES  OF  LIFE.  353 

•we  can  relieve,  and  what  we  do  for  them  he  regards 
as  done  for  him.  Thus,  while  we  live  to  him,  we 
live  also  in  the  very  highest  sense  for  others,  and  find 
the  purest  and  the  sweetest  happiness  for  ourselves, 
for  we  are  enjoying  a  pleasure  even  when  we  are  doing 
a  duty.  The  "  must "  of  benevolence  in  us  is  not  that 
of  outward  constraint,  but  of  inner  impulse.  It  is  the 
irrepressible  "  cannot  but,"  and  not  the  shuddering 
"I  dare  not  but."  We  find  our  joy  in  seeking  to 
make  others  joyful.  The  selfish  man  makes  happiness 
the  end  he  seeks,  and  so  he  never  gains  it,  for  when 
pursued  in  that  way  it  flees  from  before  him  as  the 
rainbow  recedes  from  the  deluded  child  who  runs 
to  find  the  pot  of  gold  that  is  fabled  to  be  at  the 
place  on  which  the  ethereal  arch  doth  seem  to  rest. 
But  when,  renouncing  self,  we  seek  to  make  others 
better,  holier,  and  nobler  for  Jesus'  sake,  then  true 
happiness  comes  unsought,  and  comes  to  stay.  When 
in  the  midnight  hour  you  lie  awake  and  wish  for 
sleep,  the  more  you  try  expedients  to  bring  it  to  your 
pillow,  the  more  it  seems  to  flee  from  your  pursuit. 
But  when  you  turn  your  mind  away  from  all  such 
things  and  think  on  something  quite  apart  from  self, 
then,  with  muffled  footstep,  the  angel  of  the  night 
steals  into  your  chamber  and  steeps  your  senses  in 
forgetfulness.  And  so,  the  more  eager  you  are  for 
happiness  as  an  object  in  itself,  the  more  hopeless  is 
your  effort  to  attain  it ;  but  when,  renouncing  self  and 
seeking  to  live  to  Christ,  you  labor  for  the  benefit  of 
others ;  then  happiness  will  come  of  itself  and  fill 
your  heart  with  a  foretaste  of  heaven's  own  blessed- 
ness. Thus,  by  living  to  Christ,  the  Christian  secures 
these  three  things — the  glory  of  Christ,  the  benefit 
of  his  fellow  men,  and  his  own  highest  happiness. 
And  now,  my  unbelieving  friends,  what  have  you  to 


354  THE   EESPONSIBILrriES   OF  LIFE. 

say  to  all  these  things  ?  Are  you  still  determined  to 
live  to  yourselves  ?  What  profit  have  you  had  therein 
in  the  jDast  ?  You  may  have  added  to  your  wealth,  but 
have  you  increased  your  happiness  ?  You  may  have 
multiplied  your  possessions,  but  what  have  you  done 
that  has  served  your  generation,  or  honored  your  God, 
or  glorified  your  Saviour  ?  And  what  of  all  that  you 
have  lived  to  accumulate  or  to  enjoy  can  you  take  with 
you  into  that  state  where  character  shall  be  your  only 
property?  Live,  I  beseech  you,  for  something  that 
you  can  keep  when  death  shall  overtake  you.  Live  to 
glorify  God  here,  in  the  obedience  of  Christ  and  the 
love  of  your  fellow-men,  and  you  will  find  that  in  that 
way  you  will  make  friends  of  the  mammon  of  unright- 
eousness, who,  when  you  fail,  shall  receive  you  into 
the  everlasting  habitations  which  Christ  has  prepared 
for  them  that  love  him. 

And,  my  fellow  Christians,  shall  not  we  renew  our 
dedication  to  the  Lord  to-day,  and  seek  henceforth 
more  than  ever  to  bless  and  benefit  our  fellow  men  for 
his  sake  ?  "What  joy,  what  usefulness,  what  honor, 
have  come  to  us  as  we  have  attempted  to  act  on  these 
principles  in  the  past  ?  Let  us,  therefore,  carry  them 
out  only  more  thoroughly  than  ever  in  the  future.  Few 
men  in  his  generation  sought  to  live  so  much  for 
Christ  and  for  his  people  as  did  Thomas  Guthrie,  the 
Scottish  pulpit  orator  and  philanthrojDist,  and  the  se- 
cret of  all  was  that  he  had  learned  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross  to  sacrifice  self  and  to  love  all  for  whom  the  Mas- 
ter died.  I  have  heard  him  often,  and  always  with 
delight,  but  never,  I  think,  with  such  quivering  emo- 
tion tingling  through  my  frame,  as  when,  at  the  close  of 
a  glowing  appeal  for  his  ragged  children,  he  repeated, 
with  the  deepest  fervor,  these  lines,  which  were  pecul- 
iarly appropriate  on  lips  like  his  : 


THE   KESPONSIBILITIES   OF  LIFE.  355 

"I  live  for  those  who  love  me, 

For  those  who  know  me  true  ; 
For  the  heaven  that  smiles  above  me. 

And  awaits  my  spirit,  too  ; 
For  the  cause  that  lacks  assistance, 
For  the  wrongs  that  need  resistance, 
For  the  future  in  tlie  distance, 

For  the  good  that  I  can  do. " 

That  was  his  motto,  because  he  had  learned  the  mean- 
ing of  the  love  of  Christ  to  his  own  soul.  Shall  we  not 
adopt  it  as  our  own  from  this  time  forth  ?  Let  us  live 
for  the  good  that  we  can  do  as  the  disciples  of  Christ, 
and  then  we  may  very  well  leave  all  other  things  to 
take  care  of  themselves,  or  rather,  we  may  be  sure 
that  the  Master  whom  we  serve  will  take  care  of  them 
for  us.  "Not  unto  ourselves,  but  unto  Christ,  and 
unto  our  fellow  men  for  Christ's  sake  ;  "  so  let  us  live 
here,  and  death  when  it  comes  will  only  promote  us  to 
a  higher  sphere,  where  we  shall  live  to  nobler  purpose 
and  to  yet  grander  fruitage. 
March  18,  1883. 


THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS 
NOT   LEFT  UNDONE. 

Matthew  xxiii,  23.  Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypo- 
crites !  for  ye  pay  tithe  of  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and  have 
omitted  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy  and  faith: 
these  ouglit  ye  to  liave  done,  and  not  to  leave  the  other  undone. 

The  denunciations  of  tlie  Pharisees,  in  connection 
■with  which  these  words  occur,  are  the  sternest  utter- 
ances which  came  from  the  lips  of  Jesus.  Indeed,  they 
are  in  this  respect  so  exceptional  that  they  have  oc- 
casioned much  perplexity  to  many  sincere  Christians, 
and  have  been  held  up  to  scorn  and  execration  by 
many  antagonists  of  the  gospel.  But  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  the  real  nature  of  Phariseeism  is  all  that  is 
needed  for  their  complete  vindication,  and  as  that  will 
materially  helj)  us  to  a  right  understanding  of  the 
text,  especially  in  its  primary  application,  it  may  be 
well  to  set  it  distinctly  before  you  in  the  outset  of  my 
discourse. 

The  error  of  the  Pharisees  was  not  superficial,  but 
fundamental.  Their  religion  was  not  simply  defective, 
but  positively  false.  They  were  not  insincerely  striv- 
ing after  that  which  was  right ;  but  they  were  sincerely 
striving  after  that  which  Avas  wrong  ;  or  to  take  the  Sav- 
iour's own  illustration,  they  were  building  their  house 
on  a  foundation  of  sand  and  not  upon  the  firm  and  un- 
yielding rock.  I  know,  indeed,  that  to  many  among 
us  the  Pharisees  stand  as  the  representatives  of  those 
who  are  deliberately  seeking  to  impose  upon  others 


THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHEES  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE.  357 

by  professing  to  liave  that  which  they  are  conscious 
that  they  do  not  possess.  That  this  was  true  of  some 
who  were  called  by  that  name  is  certain,  for  the  Sav- 
iour speaks  of  them  as  "  for  a  pretense  making  long 
prayers  ;"  but  such  a  view  cannot  be  entertained,  for 
example,  of  Paul  before  his  conversion.  Neither  his 
conduct  in  reference  to  the  early  disciples  nor  his 
subsequent  allusions  to  his  experience  as  a  Pharisee 
will  allow  us  to  rest  in  the  conviction  that  he  was  at 
that  time  willfully  and  deliberately  seeking  to  deceive 
others.  He  was  just  as  truly  in  earnest  then  as  he 
was  in  his  later  life  as  a  Christian  Apostle ;  but  he 
was  in  earnest  after  the  wrong  thing.  And  so,  judging 
of  the  others  as  a  class  by  him,  we  may  say  that  they 
had  a  radically  false  idea  of  what  religion  was  ;  and  thus 
their  very  sincerity  in  its  practice  was  fraught  with  the 
deepest  danger  to  themselves,  and  the  greatest  mis- 
chief to  others.  Bishop  Butler,  in  a  somewhat  neg- 
lected portion  of  his  writings,  has  put  the  case  in  a  way 
which  reveals  his  accustomed  insight,  when  he  says : 
"  They  were  not  men  without  any  belief  at  all  in  reli- 
gion, who  put  on  the  appearance  of  it  only  in  order  to 
deceive  the  world ;  on  the  contrary,  they  believed  their 
religion  and  were  zealous  in  it.  But  their  religion 
which  they  believed  and  were  zealous  in  was  in  its 
own  nature  hypocritical,  for  it  was  the  form,  not  the 
reality."  *  This  witness  is  true.  They  resolved  religion 
into  a  bundle  of  separate  acts  of  ritual  and  prescrip- 
tion instead  of  regarding  it  as  the  character  of  the  man 
himself ;  or  what  in  Scripture  language  is  called  the 
relation  of  the  heart  to  God.  They  lost  sight  of  that 
"moral  unity  "  in  the  individual  which  makes  him  "  a 


*  Butler's  Sermon  before  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  day  api^omted 
to  be  observed  for  the  martyrdom  of  Charles  I. 


358    THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE. 

good  being  as  distinguished  from  a  bad  being,"  and 
wliich  in  the  words  of  a  great  thinker  *  is  "  that  general 
virtue  which  covers  the  motives "  and  which,  "  like 
some  essence  which  we  can  hardly  get  at,"  is  not  itself 
so  much  as  it  is  the  goodness  of  everything  else  in 
him  ;  "  not  a  virtue  so  much  as  the  substratum  of  all 
virtues ;  the  virtue  of  virtue  ;  the  goodness  of  good- 
ness." Thus  their  religion  Avas  a  super-position  from 
without ;  not  a  manifestation  of  that  which  was  within ; 
a  garment  by  which  the  body  was  covered,  and  not  the 
life  of  the  body  itself ;  a  something  separable  from 
themselves,  instead  of  their  very  innermost  self;  a 
fraction  cut  off  from  their  lives  and  devoted  to  a  special 
object ;  instead  of  the  very  life  of  their  lives,  of  which 
everything  they  did  was  but  a  j)art. 

Now  to  one  who  came,  as  the  Lord  Jesus  did,  to  give 
prominence  to  the  truth  that  "  the  Kingdom  of  God 
Cometh  not  with  observation,"  but  is  in  very  deed 
within  men's  hearts,  the  Pharisees  stood  forth  as  the 
representatives  of  the  most  pestiferous  error.  They 
occupied,  so  to  say,  the  very  center  of  the  position 
which  it  was  his  mission  to  storm,  and  very  naturally, 
therefore,  against  them  his  heaviest  bombardment  was 
directed.  So  as  Mozley  says,t  the  sternness  of  these 
denunciations  "  is  part  of  the  judicial  language  of  the 
first  advent,"  and  "laid  the  foundations  of  the  final 
judgment."  The  doctrine  of  the  Pharisees  was  the 
fundamental  lieresy  in  human  life  it ;  baptized  into  the 
name  of  religion  that  which  had  no  right  to  such  an 
appellation ;  it  robbed  God  of  the  whole,  while  osten- 
tatiously seeming  to  give  him  much  more  than  he 
asked ;  and  therefore  it  called  forth  from  the  Lord 


*  See  Mozley's  University  Sermons,  p.  39. 
f  Ibid,  p.  29. 


THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE.  359 

Jesus  tlie  most  scathing  and  indignant  words  wliich  lie 
was  ever  known  to  utter. 

But  tliis  is  not  all.  Sucli  radically  erroneous 
notions  concerning  religion  lulled  the  Pharisees  into 
absolute  self-security.  The  very  essence  of  their 
hypocrisy  was  that  it  imposed  upon  themselves.  Be- 
lieving religion  to  consist  in  a  certain  round  of  ritual 
observances  and  seeking  zealously  to  perform  that, 
they  conceived  that  all  was  well  with  them ;  thus  it 
came  that  appeals  which  reached  the  hearts  of  others 
never  affected  them.  It  was  awfully  true  that  "  the 
publicans  and  harlots  "  went  into  the  kingdom  before 
them.  Calls  to  repentance  did  not  effect  them,  for 
why  should  they  repent  of  their  goodness  ?  It  was  a 
false  goodness  indeed,  as  we  have  seen,  but  then  its 
falseness  was  the  very  thing  of  which  they  were  not 
conscious,  and  so  extraordinary  measures  had  to  be 
taken  in  order  to  rouse  them,  if  possible,  to  a  sense 
of  their  danger.  Hence  in  portions  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  their  exclusion  from  the  kingdom  at  the 
last  is  represented  as  coming  upon  them  as  an  awful 
and  humiliating  surprise  ;  and  hence  in  the  chapter 
before  us  the  most  terrible  woes  are  pronounced  over 
them,  if  haply  the  reverberations  of  the  thunder 
might  awake  them  to  a  true  perception  of  the  nature  of 
the  case.  Thus  the  indignation  in  these  verses  sprang 
from  the  root  of  love,  as  you  may  easily  see  by  reading 
on  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  for  after  "  the  whirlwind, 
the  earthquake  and  the  fire,"  comes  this  still  small  voice 
of  plaintive  yet  baffled  tenderness,  "  O,  Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets  and  stonest 
them  which  are  sent  unto  you,  how  often  would  I 
have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen 
gathered  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would 
not !    Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate." 


360     THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE. 

But  still  further,  we  may  account  for  the  severity  of 
these  denunciations,  from  the  fact  that  the  Saviour 
foresaw  that  Phariseeism  would,  in  after  ages,  become 
the  greatest  hindrance  to  the  progress  of  his  cause  in 
the  world.  As  one  has  pithily  said,'-"'  "  there  are  no 
extinct  species  in  the  world  of  evil ;"  and  most  certainly 
this  is  true  of  the  evil  of  which  now  we  speak.  For 
it  is  the  shadow  that  invariably  attends  on  spiritual 
life  and  follows  after  it.  What  was  the  Genesis  of  the 
Phariseeism  of  the  Saviour's  day?  Something  like 
this.  There  was  a  great  religious  revival  among  the 
Jews  after  their  return  from  the  captivity,  which  con- 
tinued for  a  considerable  time ;  and  which,  after  they 
had  rebuilt  the  Temple,  sent  them  back  to  the  law 
with  a  sincere  desire  to  honor  God  by  keeping  its 
commands.  So  long  as  the  life  remained,  the  obe- 
dience was  the  real  outcome  of  an  inward  principle ; 
but  when  the  life  died  out,  then  the  obedience  became 
only  a  fossil,  and  was  soon  covered  over  with  cor- 
ruption, until  it  became  what  we  see  it  to  have  been, 
in  the  days  of  the  Saviour  upon  the  earth.  But  the 
same  danger  attends  on  every  great  spiritual  move- 
ment, and  Ave  have  many  illustrations  of  it  in  the 
Christian  Church.  Thus  a  real  devotion  to  Christ 
stimulates  to  reverent  attention  to  the  forms  of  wor- 
ship-, and  so  long  as  that  is  simply  an  expression  of 
loyalty  to  Him,  all  is  well ;  but  by  and  by  all  thought 
of  him  drops  out,  and  then  only  the  ritual  remains, 
becoming  the  idol  of  the  heart  and  so  the  life  departs. 
"Who  does  not  recognize  in  this  the  natural  history  of 
Eitualism,  whether  in  the  Church  of  Eome  or  else- 
where ?  So  again  the  founders  of  the  great  monastic 
orders  were  all  sincere  and  ardent  reformers,  and  in 

*  See  Mozley's  University  Sermons,  p.  33. 


THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE.  361 

them  and  their  immediate  followers  we  see  great  self- 
sacrifice  and  devotion  from  the  holiest  motives  ;  but 
as  years  rolled  on  the  life  evaporated,  and  only  the 
Pharisaic  fossils  of  their  orders  remained.  Thus  we 
see  how  it  comes  that  "  the  real  virtues  of  one  age  are 
the  spurious  ones  of  the  next,"  '^  and  that  what  was  a 
voice  full  of  sincerity  in  one  generation  is  often  only 
an  empty  echo  in  that  which  follows.  So  Phariseeism 
has  to  be  guarded  against  in  every  age  of  tlie  Church's 
history,  and  more  especially  after  times  of  special 
activity  and  life.  The  constant  tendency  is  to  retain  the 
form  after  the  life  has  departed,  and  to  keep  on  doing 
as  our  fathers  did,  when  we  no  longer  feel  as  our 
fathers  felt ;  and  any  one  who  thinks  deeply  on  the 
subject  will  be  compelled  to  admit,  that  in  the  strength 
of  that  tendency,  we  have  one  of  the  greatest  sources 
of  the  Church's  weakness  at  the  present  day.  Hence 
the  words  of  the  Lord  in  this  chapter  were  prophetic 
as  well  as  judicial ;  and  the  very  terror  of  them  was 
intended  to  direct  the  attention  of  his  people  in  every 
age  to  a  danger  that  would  be  always  imminent.  We 
for  example,  have  come  in  for  the  legacy  of  the  church 
forms  and  customs  of  those  who  have  gone  before  us, 
and  so  we  must  take  heed  that  we  do  not  continue 
these  for  their  own  sakes,  but  rather  that  we  have  the 
life  of  which  they  were  the  expression,  and  that 
we  adapt  the  expression  of  that  life  to  the  circum- 
stances and  requirements  of  our  own  times. 

These  considerations  will  be  enough,  I  hope,  to  vin- 
dicate the  severity  of  the  Saviour's  words  in  the 
chapter  before  us,  while,  at  the  same  time,  they  will 
show  the  importance  of  this  subject  to  ourselves,  and 

*  Mozley,  as  before. 


362     THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE. 

prepare  us  to  understand  wliat  I  have  called  the 
primary  application  of  the  text,  to  the  special  consid- 
eration of  which  I  now  proceed. 

It  charges  that  the  Pharisees  were  strictly  attentive 
to  the  minutest  matters  of  tithe,  but  omitted  the 
weightier  concerns  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy,  and 
faith  ;  and  then  lays  down  the  general  maxim,  "  these," 
that  is  the  weightier  matters,  "ye  ought  to  have 
done,  and  not  to  have  left  the  others  undone."  Now 
here  two  or  three  very  important  j^rincijjles  are  im- 
plied. 

We  learn,  for  example,  that  the  commands  of  God 
are  of  different  degrees  of  importance.  There  are 
matters  of  more  weight  than  others,  among  the  divine 
precepts.  That  God  has  commanded  a  thing,  always 
invests  it  with  a  certain  importance,  but  all  his  com- 
mandments are  not  of  equal  gravity.  The  heart  that 
reverences  him,  indeed,  will  seek  for  his  sake  to  render 
obedience  to  them  all,  but  each  in  its  own  order. 
There  are  higher  and  lower  obligations ;  and  the 
higher  will  be  first  attended  to,  nay  if  need  be,  will 
absorb  into  them  the  lower.  This  is  a  distinction  in 
morals  kindred  to  that  between  things  essential  and 
non-essential  in  matters  of  faith,  and  it  will  be  recog- 
nized by  all.  In  any  case  it  lies  here  upon  the  very 
surface  of  the  text  so  plainly  that  I  need  not  stay 
either  to  prove  its  existence  or  to  point  out  its  im- 
portance ;  the  rather  as  these  will  both  be  brought 
ovit  in  the  second  thing  which  the  text  teaches, 
namely :  That  the  weightiest  of  all  God's  commands 
have  respect  to  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith.  That  is 
a  truth  which  is  emphasized  over  and  over  again  both 
by  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  Apostles 
of  the  New.  Thus  Samuel  said  to  Saul,  "  To  obey  is 
better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of 


THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE.  363 

lambs."  Tlie  same  thouglit  quivers  through  the 
solemn  music  of  the  fiftieth  psalm ;  while  Isaiah  rep- 
resents the  Lord  as  saying  to  the  rulers  of  his  day 
whose  hands  were  full  of  blood,  "Your  new  moons 
and  your  appointed  feasts  my  soul  liateth ;  they  are  a 
trouble  unto  me  ;  I  am  weary  to  bear  them."  So  also 
Paul  exclaims  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  "  Though  I 
bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  though  I 
give  my  body  to  be  burned,  and  have  not  love,  it 
profiteth  me  nothing."  He  does  not  mean  that  it  is 
not  a  duty  to  feed  the  poor,  or  that  it  is  not  right  to 
"  resist  unto  blood  striving  against  sin ;"  but  as  both 
of  these  things  may  be  done  from  sinful  motives,  the 
one  from  love  of  ostentatious  display,  and  the  other 
from  a  disposition  not  essentially  different  from  that 
which  animates  the  combatants  in  earthly  war,  neither 
of  them  may,  in  itself  considered,  be  put  into  compar- 
ison with  that  love  to  God  and  love  to  men  which  is 
the  result  of  the  reception  of  Christ  into  the  heart ; 
and  which,  wherever  it  exists,  will  always  prompt  to 
the  performance  of  those  things  which  are  for  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  and  the  welfare  of  mankind.  The 
inner  is  more  important  than  the  outer ;  the  spirit  than 
the  letter  ;  the  principle  than  the  action  ;  the  character 
than  the  isolated  deed.  The  heart  is  the  great  thing, 
"  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life,"  and  therefore  it 
should  have  the  first  and  the  greatest  attention.  If 
that  be  wrong  nothing  can  be  right ;  but  if  that  be 
right,  everything  will  partake  of  its  quality.  There- 
fore, in  regard  to  "  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith,"  the 
Lord  says  positively,  "these  ought  ye  to  have  done  ;" 
while  in  matters  of  tithe  and  prescription,  he  contents 
himself  with  the  negative  expression  "  and  not  to  have 
left  the  others  undone."  Do  the  great  things,  and  the 
smaller  will  follow  in  their  train.     Attend  to  the  prin- 


364     THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHEKS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE. 

ciple,  and  the  exemplifications  of  it  will  come  of  them- 
selves. Look  well  to  the  character,  and  the  conduct 
will  correspond  thereto.  Keep  the  heart,  and  every- 
thing flowing  from  it  will  testify  to  that  vigilance. 
This  is  of  prime  importance,  and  clearly  indicates  why 
so  many  who  are  awakened  to  a  sense  of  the  value  of 
religion  do  yet  fall  short  of  its  attainment.  They  try 
to  reform  their  conduct  in  certain  particulars.  They 
resolve  and  re-resolve,  but  only  to  break  their  vows  ; 
and  all  this  because  they  are  proceeding  on  a  wrong 
plan.  They  are  working  from  a  point  in  the  circum- 
ference instead  of  from  the  center.  They  are  trying 
to  reform  the  heart  from  the  conduct  instead  of  the 
conduct  from  the  heart ;  and  so  they  have  to  lay  afresh 
the  whole  foundation ;  and  they  have  to  do  that  by 
building  upon  Christ,  and  coming  to  him  for  the 
renewal  which  only  his  Spirit  can  effect.  This  looks 
very  simple,  yet  simple  as  it  looks,  there  are  many 
among  us  who  have  never  truly  apprehended  it,  and 
therefore  I  have  tried  with  all  plainness  of  speech  to 
make  it  clear. 

But  another  thing  taught  us  in  this  verse  is,  that 
attention  to  the  matters  of  less  importance  will  not 
compensate  for  the  neglect  of  those  which  are  of 
essential  moment.  Punctilious  tithe-paying  will  not 
condone  oppression,  or  injustice,  or  the  lack  of  humble 
faith  in  God.  It  was  no  answer  to  the  charge  of 
" devouring  widow's  houses"  for  the  Pharisee  to  say 
"  I  fast  twice  in  the  week  and  give  tithes  of  all  that  I 
possess."  Kitual  is  not  religion ;  it  is  only,  even  at 
the  best,  the  outer  garment  which  she  wears  on  cer- 
tain occasions ;  but  religion  herself  is  character ;  and 
that  is  a  moral  unit,  giving  its  quality  both  to  the 
worship  and  to  the  ordinary  conduct  of  the  man.  It 
is  no  vindication  for  my  not  doing  a  most  important 


THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE.  865 

duty,  to  say  that  I  liave  done  something  else  that  is 
on  a  far  lower  plain.  If  a  man  has  dishonestly  ap- 
propriated the  money  which  was  intrusted  to  his  care, 
he  is  not  to  be  excused  because  he  can  say,  "  I  was  a 
regular  attendant  upon  church,  I  was  a  Sunday-school 
teacher,  or  I  was  a  liberal  giver  to  benevolent  objects." 
That  does  not  alter  the  character  of  his  dishonesty ; 
it  only  reveals  the  radical  wrongness  of  his  religion, 
and  shows  that  he  is  a  modern  Pharisee,  who  regards 
religion  as  a  thing  of  rubrics  and  ritual,  and  times  and 
seasons,  and  temporary  engagements,  instead  of  a 
matter  of  heart  and  life.  Oh  !  my  hearers,  how  many 
such  cases  there  have  been  in  recent  years !  and  how 
necessary,  therefore,  it  becomes  for  us  to  examine  into 
the  foundation  on  which  we  are  building  ;  whether  the 
rock,  with  its  moral  unity  of  character  solidified  by 
the  regeneration  that  comes  from  the  Holy  Spirit 
through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ ;  or  the  sand,  with  its 
particles  of  separate  and  isolated  actions  held  together 
by  no  principle  of  regard  to  God,  and  fused  into  no 
firm  coherence  by  love  to  Christ. 

And  to  mention  only  one  other  point  this  text  sug- 
gests, that  where  the  heart  is  right  with  God  through 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  both  the  weightier  matters  and 
those  of  less  importance  will  be  properly  attended  to. 
Not  in  so  many  words,  indeed,  are  we  taught  this 
truth  here.  But  we  must  put  this  passage  alongside 
of  many  similar  utterances  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Take 
the  following  as  a  specimen :  "  Either  make  the  tree 
good  and  his  fruit  good,  or  else  make  the  tree  corrupt 
and  his  fruit  corrupt,  for  the  tree  is  known  by  his 
fruit.  A  good  man  out  of  the  good  treasure  of  the  heart 
bringeth  forth  good  things ;  and  an  evil  man  out  of 
the  evil  treasure  bringeth  forth  evil  things."  "The 
light  of  the  body  is  the  eye  ;  if  therefore  thine  eye  be 


366  THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE. 

single  tliy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light.  But  if 
thine  eye  be  evil  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  dark- 
ness ;  if  therefore  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness, 
how  great  is  that  darkness  !"  "  Marvel  not  that  I  say 
unto  thee,  ye  must  be  born  again."  These  and  kindred 
sayings  which  might  be  quoted  in  abundance  all  go  to 
show  that  a  new  nature  is  the  fundamental  need  of 
the  sinner.  With  that  he  must  begin ;  and  for  that 
he  must  go  in  humble  faith  to  him  of  whom  it  is  said, 
"  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to 
become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on 
his  name — which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the 
will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God." 
This  is  the  beginning  of  the  whole  matter.  True 
holiness,  which  is  that  character  that  performs  every 
duty  in  its  own  place,  and  gives  to  each  its  own  im- 
portance, is  not  the  result  of  human  effort  alone,  but 
the  work  of  God's  Spirit  promised  to  those  and  only 
to  those  who  cordially  receive  Jesus  Christ  as  their 
Redeemer  and  Lord ;  and  so  if  we  wish  to  have  it  we 
must  commence  not  with  working,  but  with  believing ; 
or,  if  you  choose  to  express  it  differently,  our  first  work 
must  be  believing  in  Christ,  for  "  this  is  the  work  of 
God,  that  ye  believe  in  him  whom  he  hath  sent." 
Begin  there,  my  hearers,  and  that  will  save  you  from 
the  insidious  danger  of  the  Phariseeism,  which  I  have 
been  trying  this  morning  to  analyze  and  to  expose. 

But  while  thus  in  its  contexual  application  the  text 
is  full  of  instruction  and  warning  to  those  who  have 
been  hitherto  simply  and  only  Pharisees,  it  has  in  it 
also  a  principle  of  great  value  for  the  guidance  of 
Christ's  own  disciples,  for  it  clearly  teaches  that  the 
performance  of  one  duty  must  not  be  pleaded  as  an 
excuse  for  the  neglect  of  another.     In  all  such  matters 


THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE.  367 

what  is  put  before  us  is  not  an  alternative,  as  whether 
we  shall  do  this  or  that,  but  an  aggregate,  for  we  are 
to  do  this  ajid  that.  Now  thus  understood,  the  lesson 
of  the  text  is  susceptible  of  manifold  applications. 

It  speaks  to  the  minister  in  the  pulpit,  and  tells 
him  that  in  his  discourses  his  question  ought  never  to 
be,  whether  shall  I  preach  for  the  conversion  of  sin- 
ners, or  for  the  edification  of  believers  ;  but  rather 
how  shall  I  prepare  my  sermons  so  as  to  secure  both 
the  ^i-jj-building  of  God's  people,  and  the  i;«-building 
of  those  who  are  yet  out  of  Christ  ?  He  is  to  do  the 
one  but  he  is  not  to  leave  the  other  undone.  Of  the 
two  in  some  circumstances  the  preaching  to  sinners 
may  be  the  more  pressingly  important ;  and  in 
others,  the  training  of  those  who  are  already  disciples 
may  demand  the  larger  attention;  but  always  he 
ought  to  have  both  in  his  aim ;  for  both  alike  are 
duties  required  at  his  hands.  If  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  be  in  the  New  Testament  to  show  him  how 
to  "do  the  work  of  an  Evangelist,"  the  Apostolic 
Epistles  are  also  there  to  let  him  see  how  to  "  feed 
the  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  made  him 
overseer ;"  and  if  he  will  study  these  well  and  faith- 
fully he  may  perhaps  find  in  the  example  of  Paul 
something  that  will  help  him  to  edify  believers  even 
when  he  is  preaching  to  sinners ;  or  to  probe  the  con- 
sciences of  sinners  even  when  he  is  seeking  the  pro- 
motion of  holiness  in  those  who  are  already  Christ's. 
But  if  he  neglect  either,  he  is,  so  far  forth,  unfaithful, 
and  for  the  passing  over  of  the  one,  the  doing  of  the 
other  will  be  no  excuse.  Nay  the  effect  in  either  case 
will  be  disastrous.  If  he  continually  preach  for  the 
awakening  of  sinners,  then  in  proportion  as  his  hearers 
are  converted,  they  will  pass  away  from  him  and  seek 
a  teacher  who  shall  lead  them  forward  ;  while  if  he 


368  THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHEES  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE. 

confine  liimself  to  the  training  of  believers,  his 
church  will  ere  long  become  depleted  by  death  and 
removals,  and  no  others  will  come  to  take  the  vacant 
places.  In  this  way,  undue  preponderance  of  either 
will  work  injuriously  to  the  permanent  usefulness  of 
the  church,  and  he  is  the  wise  and  well  instructed 
scribe  who,  while  doing  the  one,  will  contrive  also  not 
to  leave  the  other  undone. 

But  there  is  in  this  principle,  thus  understood,  a 
lesson  also  for  the  church.  It  exists,  as  our  own  man- 
ual has  well  put  it,  "for  mutual  edification  and  en- 
couragement in  Christian  life ;  and  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Kedeemer's  Kingdom."  Therefore  it 
must  not  neglect  aggressive  work  on  the  outlyiD'" 
world,  for  the  fostering  of  the  growth  and  comfoi%of 
its  members  ;  and  neither  must  it  neglect  the  growth 
and  comfort  of  its  members  for  the  prosecution  of 
evangelistic  effort  among  those  who  are  "  ignorant 
and  out  of  the  way."  Here  again  it  may  be  said  "  this 
ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  to  leave  the  other  un- 
done." There  have  been  times  when  the  aggressive 
has  somewhat  eclipsed  the  educational ;  and  then  ex- 
travagance and  emotion  have  set  in  like  a  flood.  But 
again  there  have  been  times  when  the  educational  has 
overshadowed  the  aggressive,  and  then  intellect  has  run 
to  seed  into  doctrinal  error,  and  often  also  into  abso- 
lute unbelief.  Thus  there  are  dangers  on  either  hand. 
The  Salvation  Army,  with  its  irreverent  modes  of 
speech  and  somewhat  shocking  methods,  will  illustrate 
the  peril  of  becoming  simply  and  only  aggressive ;  the 
Unitarian  defection,  with  its  ultimate  developments 
into  such  disintegration  as  Boston  saw  in  the  breaking 
up  of  Theodore  Parker's  company  of  followers,  and 
we  in  New  York  have  witnessed  in  the  dissolution 
of    Mr.    Frothingham's    congregation,    will   illustrate 


THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE.  369 

the  danger  of  devoting  ourselves  entirely  to  self- 
culture. 

The  wise  church  will  steer  clear  of  both  extremes 
by  carrying  on  the  work  of  mutual  edification  abreast 
of  that  of  evangelistic  aggressiveness.  I  know  not  in 
which  direction  our  danger  lies.  Perhaps  in  that  of 
giving  undue  prej)onderance  to  the  simple  maintenance 
of  our  own  church  life,  and  yet  after  the  announce- 
ment which  I  have  made  this  morning  in  reference  to 
our  Bethany  enterprise,*  I  may  not  indulge  in  any 
such  suspicions.  Let  me  content  myself  rather  with 
uttering  a  warning  against  the  one-sidedness  that 
would  give  the  preference  to  either,  and  then,  by  the 
guidance  of  God's  Spirit,  we  may  be  able  to  keep  each 
in  its  normal  proportion  in  our  thoughts  and  prayers 
and  efforts. 

But  speaking  still  of  the  Church,  the  same  prin- 
ciple holds  in  regard  to  the  home  and  foreign 
missionary  enterprises.  Concerning  these  also  we 
must  say,  "  This  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  to 
have  left  the  other  undone."  Both  alike  are  duties  ; 
and  as  far  as  possible,  both  should  be  carried  on 
abreast.  Sometimes  the  Home  effort  may  claim 
the  larger  share  of  attention,  as  I  think  it  does,  in  a 
country  like  our  own  into  which  we  are  receiving 
foreign  population  at  the  rate  of  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands every  year.  But  then,  work  prosecuted  among 
these  is,  in  a  very  true  sense,  foreign  work  as  well  as 
home.  Sometimes,  again,  as  in  a  country  like  Scot- 
land, which,  if  anything,  is  rather  overchurched  than 
underchurched,  the'  main  effort  should  be  put  forth  in 
the   foreign   field.     But   always  there  should  be  an 


*  The  New  Bethany  Church  on  Tenth  Avenue  was  dedicated  on  the 
Sunday  after  this  discourse  was  preached. 


370     THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE. 

outlook  upon  both,  and  work  put  forth  on  both.  If 
we  content  ourselves  with  home  work,  we  shall  be- 
come selfish,  self-conceited,  and  disagreeable — the 
Pharisee  among  the  nations  saying  with  contempt, 
"  Thank  God  we  are  not  as  they  !"  and  that  will  issue 
in  national  humiliation.  If,  again,  we  restrict  our- 
selves to  foreign,  we  may  find  our  own  cities,  like  the 
garden  of  the  sluggard,  overrun  with  "  thorns "  and 
"nettles,"  and  "the  stone  wall  thereof  broken  down." 
They  who  have  true  leal-hearted  love  to  Christ  will 
take  a  warm  and  living  interest  in  both,  as  is  evident 
in  the  fact  that  we  find  the  same  individuals  on  the 
platforms  of  both,  and  the  church  that  labors  earnestly 
in  both  will  make  sure  and  steady  progress,  and  be 
marked  with  holy  peace.  If  you  seek  to  propel  a  boat 
with  one  oar,  you  will  simply  turn  it  round  and  round ; 
but  if  you  use  both  you  "go  forward;"  and  so  true 
church  prosperity  depends  on  the  carrying  forward  of 
both  home  and  foreign  missions. 

But  turning  now  to  the  household,  we  may  see  how 
there  also  the  same  principle  holds  good.  Public  relig- 
ious services  must  not  be  made  the  substitute  for  home 
duties ;  and  again  home  duties  must  not  be  pleaded  as  an 
apology  for  the  neglect  of  public  ordinances.  Arrange- 
ments ought  to  be  made  for  rightly  engaging  in  both. 
The  instructing  of  other  people's  children  must  not 
be  allowed  to  keep  us  from  giving  needed  attention  to 
the  godly  upbringing  of  our  own.  And  again  the  train- 
ing of  our  own  families  should  not  be  made  a  plea  for 
exemption  from  all  effort  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
those  of  others  It  is  sometimes  seen  that  the  child- 
ren of  those  who  have  been  prominent  in  Sunday- 
school  work  grow  up  in  utter  carelessness  ;  but  then 
occasionally  we  also  see  that  the  sons  of  those  who 
kept  themselves  rigidly  at  home  for  their  training  have 


^ 


THESE  THINGS  DONE  AND  OTHEES  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE.  371 

become  absolute  reprobates.  So  that  both  extremes 
are  bad,  simply  because  they  are  extremes.  Home 
is  the  weightier,  and  of  its  duties  we  may  say  un- 
hesitatingly, "  these  ought  ye  to  have  done  ;"  but  then 
other  forms  of  effort  claim  assistance,  and  of  these  we 
must  say,  "  and  not  to  leave  the  other  undone."  A 
workman  meeting  a  friend  on  the  street  in  Edinburgh, 
one  Monday  morning,  said  to  him,  "Why  were  you 
not  at  church  last  night  ?  our  minister  preached  an 
excellent  sermon  on  home  religion.  Why  were  you 
not  there  to  hear  it?"  "Because,"  was  the  answer, 
"  I  was  at  home  doing  it."  That  was  a  good  answer, 
for  the  service  was  an  extra  one,  and  the  man  had 
been  at  church  twice  before.  So  he  was  right,  with 
the  third,  to  give  his  home  duties  the  preference.  But 
then,  on  the  other  hand,  the  "  at  home  doing  it "  is 
not  all,  and  it  should  be  so  provided  for  as  not  to  take 
away  from  proper  attendance  on  regular  ordinances, 
otherwise  the  result  will  be  that  after  awhile  religion 
will  not  be  much  cared  for  either  in  the  church  or  in 
the  home.  A  tardy  student  coming  late  into  the  class 
was  asked  by  his  professor  to  account  for  his  want  of 
punctuality,  and  replied  that  he  had  delayed  for 
purposes  of  private  devotion.  But  his  teacher  very 
properly  reproved  him  by  saying,  "you  had  no  right 
to  be  at  your  prayers,  when  you  ought  to  have  been 
here ;  it  is  your  duty  to  make  such  arrangements 
that  the  one  shall  not  interfere  with  the  other."  So 
I  say  in  regard  to  the  conflicting  claims  of  the  house- 
hold and  the  church  upon  you.  Make  arrangements 
for  giving  due  attention  to  both,  and  do  not  sacrifice 
the  one  on  the  shrine  of  the  other. 

Finally,  take  it  in  its  individual  bearing,  and  you 
will  see  at  once  to  how  many  things  this  principle 
may  be  applied.     Does  business  say  one  thing,  and 


372   THESE  THESTGS  DONE  AND  OTHERS  NOT  LEFT  UNDONE. 

the  closet  another?  then  do  not  give  up  the  one  for  the 
other,  but  see  to  it  that  you  secure  both.  Are  you 
interested  in  evangelistic  operations  ?  well,  that  is  ex- 
cellent ;  but  do  not  so  neglect  your  business  for  them 
that  it  shall  get  into  confusion  and  bring  you  and  your 
Christian  profession  alike  into  reproch.  Not  many 
years  ago,  Mr.  Spurge  on  publicly  reproved  some  in 
his  church  for  so  neglecting  their  business  for  the 
work  of  preaching  that  they  found  themselves  at 
length  in  the  bankruptcy  court.  That  was  bad.  But 
then  it  is  equally  bad  for  merchants  to  become  so 
absorbed  in  business  on  all  days  and  at  all  hours,  that 
they  have  neither  time  nor  strength  to  give  to  efforts 
for  the  welfare  of  others,  and  allow  our  missionary 
Sunday-schools  and  churches  to  languish  for  lack  of 
their  assistance.  It  is  all  a  matter  of  proportion,  and 
it  ought  to  be  solemnly  pondered  by  every  one  of  us. 
Let  us,  therefore,  in  the  light  of  the  f)rinciple  on  which 
I  have  been  insisting,  look  at  our  lives  and  see  if  there 
be  not  many  things  in  them  out  of  proportion;  the 
weightier  being  sacrificed  for  those  which  are  less  im- 
portant. When  the  painter  is  at  work,  you  will  see 
him  stepping  back  every  little  while  from  his  canvas 
that  he  may  be  sure  his  perspective  is  right.  So  let 
us  go  apart  a  little  by  ourselves  to-day  and  test  the 
perspective  of  our  lives.  Let  us  examine  whether  we 
are  not  neglecting  some  things  of  great  moment  for 
the  sake  of  others  of  mere  transitory  interest  and  may 
God  enable  us  to  act  out  the  principle  which  we  have 
found  this  morning  in  the  Saviour's  words.  Amen. 
March  4,  18«3. 


''iiMiS^m'?!, iL'^,?,°.'°T"^^'   Seminary   Librari 


1  1012  01237  7950 


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